Lottery Winner Who Left Winnings in Shopping Cart Hunted

In Cambridgeshire, UK, the hunt is underway for a lottery winner named Barry who left a prize check for an undisclosed but “significant” sum in a supermarket shopping cart.

The check was discovered by honest citizen Richard Haslop in his local branch of Tesco, a British grocery retail chain. Now, Haslop has launched a social media appeal to reunite “Barry” with his windfall.

Haslop told ITV News Anglia the cart contained six lottery tickets for both the UK National and EuroMillions lottery draws, plus the check, which is made out to one Barry Levett. The check is of “significant value,” Haslop emphasized.

It’s unclear whether the check was of the novelty, outsized variety commonly used in lottery promotional events, or of more conventional dimensions.

‘Anyone Know Barry?’

“Anyone know a Barry Levett? Reason I ask is that my wife found a number of lottery tickets in a Tesco’s trolley [cart] and we wish to return to him,” wrote Haslop on Facebook.

The campaign has attracted much interest on social media. But so far, Levett has failed to reveal himself.

I’m Barry Levett and so is my wife!” quipped one Facebook user, who clearly wasn’t.

Hislop says he will ask respondents to “provide a description of what the tickets are kept in” in order to determine the real Barry Levett from potential imposters.

While stories of lottery winners losing their winnings through reckless spending are all too familiar, leaving them in a supermarket trolley appears to be an unprecedented occurence.

Missing Tickets

Instances of people mislaying their winning tickets, rendering them unable to claim massive jackpots, are more common. Last year, The Daily Mirror reported that British couple Martyn and Kay Tott had split after the pressure of missing out on a £3 million jackpot had exposed cracks in their relationship. The Totts pursued the jackpot through the courts for five years, to no avail.

It seems that Brits need to pay more attention when playing the lottery in general. One inhabitant of that Sceptered Isle unwittingly holds the world record for the biggest missed lottery jackpot.

In June 2012, a £63.8 million ticket sold somewhere in Hertfordshire, just north of London, expired without a winner. Despite a nationwide publicity campaign, no claimant came forward within the 180-day deadline, and the money was redistributed to good causes.