Lottery curse: How devoted couple who needed to vary their lives with £60K win each ended up useless inside 7 months of one another – and have been by no means in a position to spend a penny

When Jean Davies from Billinge in Merseyside, signed up to the Postcode Lottery in October 2018, she was hoping for a small win at some point.

Her grandson Paul had helped her register online and had accidentally pressed the ‘register’ button twice. It meant she’d be paying £20 instead of £10 per month. 

He said he could cancel and re-register but Jean told him not to worry.

Several of Jean’s neighbours did the Postcode Lottery but, as far as she knew, none of them had won anything. 

So she was stunned beyond belief when, just two months after registering, she received an email saying she’d won the Christmas draw.

Despite having no idea how much she’d won, Jean and her husband Brian, both 82 at the time, were over the moon.

Daughter Gillian, 58 at the time, says: ‘Mum and Dad had never won anything before so it was a big surprise for them. They had no idea how much they’d won but they were thrilled nonetheless.’

A few days later, there was a knock at their door: it was the lottery team. Jean invited the team in to her home she and Brian had lived in for 40 years.

Once inside, the team revealed that Jean had won a whopping £60,000. Had Jean just registered once, the prize would have been £30,000. 

Thanks to her grandson making the ‘mistake’ of registering twice, she won double.

‘Mum and Dad couldn’t believe it,’ remembers Gillian. ‘We’d all gone over to the house that day as we knew the team were coming. 

‘After they told us how much it was, we were whooping for joy and dancing around the living room.

‘It turned out that nine of Mum and Dad’s neighbours had also won large amounts so it was one happy street that day!’

Jean and Brian immediately banked the cheque and started making plans as to what they were going to do with the money.

Daughter Gillian recalls: ‘Mum and Dad lived in an adapted bungalow due to Dad having lots of health issues. 

‘When Mum won the money, she planned to get more adaptions in the bungalow such as wooden flooring, a new kitchen and a new bathroom suite. She was excited about sprucing up the house.’

Sadly, Jean’s plans never came to fruition: that wooden flooring was never laid and the new kitchen and bathroom were never installed.

Despite the couple’s good fortune with their cash win, fate struck them with some not so fortunate blows.

Shortly after the win, Brian suffered a fall and over the following months had several more. His cognitive function also started to decline. 

Around the same, their youngest child and only son – also called Brian – was diagnosed with throat cancer at the age of 52. 

The whole family’s main focus turned to getting Brian Snr and Brian Jnr well again and all thoughts of refurbishing the bungalow were pushed to one side.

Gillian continued to care for her parents – she lived nearby and visited them twice a day, helping with their shopping and taking them for any appointments they needed to attend.

It soon became apparent, however, that Brian needed extra help and both Gillian and Jean needed a break. 

During the first lockdown in 2020, Gillian’s older half-sister – furloughed estate agent Susan – stepped in for a few days.

In June 2020, Jean was rushed to hospital with pneumonia. Susan, then 65, went with her and Jilly remained with dad Brian.

Five days later, Jean was home from hospital but still unwell, suffering from delirium and dehydration.

Prior to this, during the four days in early 2020 when half-sister Susan spent with Jean and Brian, she helped them organise their wills and applied for power of attorney so she could take control of their finances. 

Later that year, Jilly subsequently discovered, Jilly and Brian Jnr were written out of their parents’ wills. Brian Jnr died shortly after on 8th August 2020.

In November 2021, Brian was moved to Madison Court care home in St. Helen’s, Merseyside, where life for the devoted couple went from bad to worse. 

Jean was unable to go and visit her husband of 65 years due to Covid restrictions and was desperately upset. 

Gillian took her mum to Blackpool for Christmas to help her take her mind off it all but Jean couldn’t stop worrying about Brian.

Sadly, Brian suffered terrible neglect in the care home – all documented and photographed by Gillian, who tried everything in her power to get him home. 

Then the care home went into another lockdown from December 2020 until February 2021.

‘There were strict visiting regulations – half an hour a week – and this just broke my beautiful mum. 

‘She did her best to speak out about it, even going on Granada TV anonymously and using a different name in April 2022. 

‘But the stress and upset had eaten away at her and it became clear she just couldn’t take any more. She passed away, broken-hearted, on 5th June 2022. 

Then, after months of the most horrendous neglect and abuse, my lovely dad died on 1st November 2022.’

Gillian is still fighting for justice for her parents. She has spent £23,000 in legal costs so far. 

‘What happened to my dad in that care home is a whole separate story – one I’m still trying to piece together. 

‘All I can say now is that no human being should have suffered the way my dad did.’

Looking back, Gillian believes her parents’ lives should have changed for the better after the Postcode Lottery win. 

‘But it didn’t,’ she states. ‘Everything went downhill from that day. What should have been a joyous time of their lives most definitely wasn’t. 

‘Their final years were tainted with pain, neglect, heartbreak and tragedy.

‘My parents – who I loved so much – never enjoyed any of that lottery win. It destroyed them and left me in tatters.’