Lotto winning stepmum ‘laughed at me’

Man in court case seeking one sixth of €3.38m Lotto winnings

A man claims his stepmother “laughed at me” when he asked her, some months after his father’s death, for a one-sixth share of a €3.38m Lotto win. “She laughed at me and said I got the house and that was that,” said David Walsh.

He denied suggestions there was no basis for his claim to a one-sixth share of the January 2011 Lotto win.

He agreed he had not contributed to the €12 cost of the winning ticket but denies he falsely claimed that ticket was his father’s because he was disappointed he got nothing in his father’s will and all was left to his stepmother. The numbers used on the ticket reflected birthdays of his father’s siblings and other dates significant to his father, he said.

Mr Walsh, aged 52, of Knocknagreena, Ballinasloe, Co Galway, was being cross-examined in his High Court action against his stepmother Mary Walsh for a €560,000 share of the €3.38m Lotto win of January 22, 2011.

His is among six signatures on the back of the ticket, sold in Ballinasloe. The court has been told the other signatures were Mary Walsh, her late husband Peter Walsh, his nephew Kevin Black, and Mrs Walsh’s sons Jason and Tony.

Mrs Walsh, aged 65, of Perssepark, Ballinasloe, denies David Walsh was part of a six-person syndicate that won the €3.38m prize or that she holds €560,000 in trust for him. She claims she bought and owned the winning ticket, intended to make gifts from the prize, and was advised that having the potential beneficiaries sign the back of the ticket would help them avoid having to pay tax on those gifts.

The court heard various cheques were sent on behalf of Mrs Walsh to some of those signatories, including a €300,000 cheque to her son Jason; one for £380,000 (€456,000) to her son Tony, who lives in Wales; and one for €100,000 to Kevin Black.

Mrs Walsh claims David Walsh was offered the option €200,000 from the Lotto win or the former home of herself and his late father at Knocknagreena and opted for the house. Mr Walsh, who obtained a €135,000 valuation for the house in 2013, denies that.

Earlier yesterday, Mr Walsh told his counsel, Dervla Browne, that his solicitors in August 2013 received a letter from the National Lottery confirming he was a member of a six-person syndicate that won €3.38m.

Under cross-examination by Michael Delaney, for Mrs Walsh, he denied he never verbally raised with her the issue of getting a share of the Lotto win. He said he raised the issue with her three times after his father died on December 26, 2011. On the third occasion, about May 2012, she laughed at him, said he got the house, and that was that, he said.

He maintained that he signed the ticket on the morning of Sunday, January 23, 2011, at his father’s house after his father told him he had won the Lotto and asked him to call to the house.

Mr Delaney put to him that could not have happened because Mrs Walsh only discovered she won the Lotto on the Sunday night after which she lodged the ticket in the bank the next morning. Mr Walsh said there was definitely a gathering that Sunday morning and he had signed the ticket. His father told him he was getting his “share” of the winnings, he said. His view was he was getting one-sixth and the house. Asked why it took him until 2013 to initiate legal action, he said he was reluctant to go to court.

The case was adjourned to January 26.