LOTTERY WIFE'S COURT VICTORY

A BANKRUPT airline pilot who told his former wife to "stick it" when she asked for his GBP 1 a week National Lottery contribution lost a GBP 250,000 share in the jackpot today.

A High Court judge ruled that his ex-wife, who paid his pub syndicate contribution as well as her own, was entitled to the share, doubling her winnings to more than GBP 500,000. Lotte Gunderson, 38, has already received more than GBP 240,000 from the GBP 3.6 million win. The 15-member syndicate at the Tudor Tavern in East Preston, near Littlehampton, hit the jackpot in May 1997.

She has now been awarded by Mr Justice Lindsay the share claimed by her former husband, Anthony Abra-hams, 48, which was being held in a joint account in the names of solicitors for Miss Gunderson and Mr Abra-hams's trustee in bankruptcy. Miss Gunderson, from East Preston, said after the hearing that she was "delighted". In a statement issued by her lawyers, she added: "It is unfortunate that it has been necessary for me to pursue this matter through the courts. This has, however, been due to the attitude of my former husband and his trustee in bankruptcy supported by his creditors." The couple met while Mr Abrahams was trying to set up an airline in Dubai. Miss Gunderson, who shed tears of joy when the result was announced by the judge, said they had separated seven months before the Lottery win. "During this period he did not provide me with any support or seek to make payment of the Lottery contributions which I continued to pay," she added. "I believe this case illustrates that it is important for Lottery syndicates to have proper written rules to avoid the good fortune of a win resulting in litigation." The judge said he believed her when she told him she and others had asked her ex-husband for his stake but were "rudely rebuffed."

Copyright 1999
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.