€50,000 lottery winner receives cheque in Malta

A lucky British man was all smiles yesterday after being whisked away to Malta to be presented with €50,000 by UK celebrity Carol Smillie. Richard Butler received the cheque from The Player’s Lottery, a new online lottery company based in Malta, after winning its free introductory prize draw. “The most I’ve ever won is a bottle of gin in a tombola and £10 on the National Lottery, so this is a big surprise,” said the 50-year-old Londoner. Mr Butler only entered the draw on whim after clicking on an e-mail and he admitted he thought he was being scammed when he received a phone call a week ago saying he had won. “I couldn’t even remember entering initially. Then the phone went dead because I entered a tunnel,” he laughed. Fortunately, a representative of The Player’s Lottery called back, by which time Mr Butler had recalled entering the draw. “I don’t normally enter anything like this but the website looked professional and I was not asked for bank details, so I thought I had nothing to lose,” Mr Butler said. He plans to spend the bulk of his winnings on a house in Thailand, which he will move into full-time when he eventually retires. The freelance marketer was flown to Malta on...