The old story goes that a husband returns home to his wife in a particularly jolly mood. “I’ve won the lottery!” he says. “Pack your bags”.

“Oh, lovely,” says his wife. “Are we going somewhere nice and warm?”

“We’re not going anywhere”, comes the reply.

There is nothing like a sudden windfall to bring out the worst in people. This is what three friends discovered recently when one of them had a huge win at bingo. The case managed to find itself not only into the law reports but into the national press.

Tania Burnett faced a claim by two friends that they had agreed to share any winnings over £10. In the event, Miss Burnett won £101,211 at a Gala Bingo club in Plymouth, but her friends were unable to convince the court that there was been any binding agreement between them to share the winnings.

Such cases are fairly common. In 1998, Emile Choucair claimed that he was the brains behind a number-picking scheme that won the National Lottery. But his partner, Oi Wa Hui, bought the ticket. Mr Choucair was unable to prove that there was any agreement between the two to share the spoils.

Mark East’s case was slightly more unusual. He was a member of a syndicate of market traders in South London who bought the same number of lottery tickets containing the same numbers from the same newsagent every week. In 1997, Mr East won a £7.2 million jackpot. The other members of the syndicate took him to court to claim their share, claiming he had purchased the ticket on their behalf. Not so, said Mr East. He did indeed have a big win, but claimed the winning ticket had been bought by his father, who was not a member of the syndicate. The court believed him. His case was helped by the fact that the syndicate members could not prove that the winning numbers had been their chosen ones.

Big wins can have a knock-on effect that often ends in litigation. Despina Papamichael had a record breaking win on the Greek lottery. The proceeds were paid into the joint bank account of her and her husband. But her husband had the money paid into a NatWest account and used it for his own benefit. A court later ruled that NatWest had acted in bad faith and should have known that the money belonged to the wife. It was ordered to compensate her to the tune of $6.5 million.

Even as I write this, the courts are considering an unusual consequence from a lottery win. In 2004, Iorworth Hoare won £7 million on the lottery. He had bought his ticket while on day release from prison, where he was serving a life sentence for what was described as a “violent and disgusting” sexual attack on a woman in 1988.

On hearing of his lottery win, the victim sued Hoare for compensation. Her claim was rejected by the High Court and the Court of Appeal but the latter court gave her permission to appeal to the highest court in the land, the House of Lords. The law lords are now considering whether the six-year limitation period can be extended to enable an unexpected piece of good fortune to be utilised for the benefit of someone less fortunate.

If you’re buying a lottery ticket this week or taking a trip to the bingo hall — best of luck. But be prepared for the unforeseen consequences of success.

Stephen Gerlis is a district judge at Barnet County Court and chairman of the London Association of District Judges

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