Ladder builder steps up from £10,000 lottery win to £10.3m jackpot

John Bowman, from Forfar, checked his numbers from Saturday night's Lotto draw the following morning but it was not until he showed a friend his ticket he realised he had won 1,000 times that amount.

Published 21st Apr 2016

A ladder builder who scooped more than £10 million on the lottery initially thought he had been “lucky'' enough to win £10,000.

John Bowman, from Forfar in Angus, checked his numbers from Saturday night's Lotto draw the following morning but it was not until he showed a friend his ticket he realised he had won 1,000 times that amount.

The 59-year-old said he plans to spend some of his £10,317,199 winnings on a place in the sun.

Speaking at an event organised by operators Camelot outside Glasgow on Thursday, Mr Bowman said the first thing he did was phone his daughters Lisa, 28, and Emma, 26, to break the good news.

“I told them to sit down because I had some news for them - they didn't believe me at first.” he said.

He then went to his local pub to celebrate his win.

“My first drink as a millionaire was still a pint of beer,” he added.

Revealing how he intends to spend the money, Mr Bowman said: “The first thing I did was to look after my daughters and I will also be sharing some of my good fortune with family and friends.

“I want to buy a home abroad, somewhere with plenty of sun, and I also like travelling so I'll be looking at holidays in Europe.

“I enjoy Formula 1, too, so I think a trip to the Monaco Grand Prix will be on he cards.”