LOTTERY louts Mark Goodram and Jon-Ross Watson, who 'won' the  £4 million National Lottery scratch card jackpot using stolen debit card details, have been jailed.

Goodram, aged 38, of no fixed address and Watson, aged 34, of Nuttall Avenue, Little Lever, had each denied three counts of fraud but changed their pleas to guilty as their trial at was due to start.

The pair had travelled to London in April 2019 to go begging, with Goodram having written a stranger's debit card details on his hand.

He keyed in the numbers at Waitrose in Clapham when buying lottery scratch cards and went on a bender in the capital, posting pictures of themselves celebrating on social media, when one of the tickets was the jackpot.

"You must have thought all your Christmases had come at once," commented the judge, Recorder Sarah Johnston.

But their joy was short-lived when they phoned  Camelot, which runs the National Lottery, who smelled a rat and refused to pay out the massive prize.

Despite using debit card details to buy the winning card, Goodram told them that he did not have a bank account where they could pay his winnings.

After Goodram and Watson, from Bolton and who both have lengthy criminal records, admitted fraud, Recorder Johnston sentenced Goodram to 19 months in prison and Watson to 18 months.

"Your offending is rooted in greed and a total lack of respect for the property of others," she told them.

The court heard the men travelled from Bolton to London on Easter Monday in 2019 where they intended to go begging.

Denise Fitzpatrick, prosecuting, said the pair, who were both on licence at the time following prison sentences, had details of a debit card belonging to a man named Joshua Addyman, who they did not know.

Goodram had the card number and expiry date written on his hand and keyed them into a chip and pin machine at a Londis store on Clapham High Street, where they bought £90 of shopping at 10.21am, Ms Fitzpatrick said.

She said they then went to the Waitrose store on Clapham Common where they bought £71 worth of shopping, including five scratchcards, using the same technique.

One of the cards had a prize of £10, which they claimed at the Londis store, while the other had the jackpot prize.

Ms Fitzpatrick said Watson telephoned the National Lottery line at 10.50am and told the operator his friend had won the jackpot.

Goodram came onto the line and said he would be sharing the prize with his friend, before being told the payment would be made by bank transfer, she said.

Ms Fitzpatrick said: “Mark Goodram explained he did not have a bank account.

“The purchase of the winning scratchcard had been made by debit card from a bank account however, which immediately raised suspicions.”

The court heard the pair spoke to media when the prize was not immediately paid out to them.

Recorder Johnston said: “You had the audacity to plead your sense of injustice in the national newspapers subsequent to the fraud being uncovered.”

She said their crime had deprived the next law-abiding customer to buy a scratchcard in the Waitrose store of “a life-changing sum of money”.

The court heard Goodram, of no fixed abode, had 24 previous convictions for 48 offences.

Robin Kitching, defending, said Goodram had longstanding addictions to drugs and alcohol.

He was sentenced to a further month for a Bail Act offence after failing to attend court in November.

Watson, of Nuttall Avenue, Little Lever, had 74 convictions for 143 previous offences and was jailed earlier this month for assault occasioning bodily harm and theft from a shop, the court heard.

Nicholas Ross, defending, said Watson understood his wrongdoing and, as a result of the case, found himself “shamed and ridiculed” by members of the public.

Recorder Johnston said: “I have no doubt that both of you will continue to offend in dishonest ways in the future.”