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'I'm not a cheat': Dad-of-four denied £200,000 lottery win says he didn't alter scratchcard

<em>‘I’m no cheat’ – Eric Walker insists he has won £200,000 on a scratchcard but Camelot says the ticket has been doctored (Picture: SWNS)</em>
‘I’m no cheat’ – Eric Walker insists he has won £200,000 on a scratchcard but Camelot says the ticket has been doctored (Picture: SWNS)

A dad-of-four who was denied a lottery win after being accused of doctoring his ticket has declared: “I’m no cheat”.

Eric Walker, 56, claimed he had won £200,000 on a National Lottery scratchcard after getting three matching symbols.

But lottery organisers Camelot have refused to pay up, saying an investigation had been launched and it was found that one of the co-ordinates had been altered.

<em>Camelot says the ticket was altered and will not pay out on what Eric claims is a £200,000 win (Picture: SWNS)</em>
Camelot says the ticket was altered and will not pay out on what Eric claims is a £200,000 win (Picture: SWNS)

But Eric, from Sheffield, South Yorks, insists he won the jackpot ‘fair and square’ and says the money would be “life changing” for him and partner Amanda Emmadi, 37.

Mr Walker, who buys six scratchcards a day, has children aged between 14 months and nine years old.

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He said: “In my eyes I’ve won £200,000 and I’m being cheated out of the money.

“They’re trying to tell me that an F has been changed to an E but I bought the ticket and scratched it myself. I haven’t doctored it, I’m not trying to cheat.”

<em>Eric bought his ticket from his local Premier shop (Picture: SWNS)</em>
Eric bought his ticket from his local Premier shop (Picture: SWNS)

He added: “If it’s a misprint then that’s their fault and they should still pay out, it’s nothing to do with me.

“I’m going to keep pressure on Camelot to sort this out, I’m not willing to let it go.”

Eric played a Pharaoh’s Fortune card which involves getting 16 co-ordinates which are used to scratch off squares on a grid to reveal pharaoh symbols. Three matching symbols reveals a win.

His card shows that he uncovered three pharaoh symbols on squares D1, E5 and A5.

However, the E5 code appears to have been doctored. On his card, the winning co-ordinate F5 appears to have been changed to an E5 – something he says must be result of a misprint.

The F5 square, which the code was originally believed to have been, is also scratched off.

A Camelot spokesperson said: “Based on the photo we were sent we were able to re-construct the scratchcard in our system.

“We can confirm that an F has been altered to appear as an E and is therefore not a winning Scratchcard.”

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