National Lottery fraudster who used Asda ‘glitch’ to steal £50,000 given prison sentence

A National Lottery fraudster, who exploited an Asda “glitch” to steal almost £50,000, has been handed a seven-month prison sentence.

Melanie Davies, an Asda worker from Scotland, admitted to taking advantage of a “glitch” in the system to thieve a total of £47,000 within a year.

Sheriff Gregor Murray explained that he had no other choice but to incarcerate the woman as her trickery had eroded the public’s trust in the National Lottery, the Dundee Sheriff Court heard.

He said: “Members of the public are entitled in relation to the National Lottery to have confidence in the way it operates.

“They are entitled to know the sums they provide to the National Lottery benefit charities and other benevolent organisations. The actions you took strike right at the heart of all of that.

“There can be no alternative to a custodial sentence in the circumstances.”

The Asda cashier was able to use a system fault to secretly pocket thousands of pounds by changing numbers of winning tickets and scratch cards, the Daily Record has reported.

After the system’s glitch was fixed, the company’s bosses noticed a whopping £10,000 gap in their finances, leading them to sniff out the fraudster.

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The Scottish con admitted her fraudulent behaviour, which took place between August 23, 2022, and July 12, 2023.

The sheriff’s court also heard that Davies separated the cash for lottery bets and the rest of the store’s money, while lottery and gaming counter staff made payouts and recorded the readings of the total money paid out each day.

Fiscal depute Lora Apostolova told the Dundee court: “The staff are tasked with presenting the totals of the payouts to Camelot.

“However, there was a technical glitch which resulted in a loss of visibility between Camelot and the store. Access was restored and a discrepancy of £10,000 appeared. Thereafter, daily receipts were requested and submitted to the cash office in hard copy.

“They were prepared by the Asda lottery kiosk and Camelot began to notice a variance in figures from the store when they were comparing it to Camelot.”

Explaining that his client was paying money back to Asda each month, defence lawyer Gary McIlravey said: “I have explained that given the quantum of monies involved, my Lord has to consider a custodial sentence.

“What the report reflects was that she was going through a particularly difficult period. She has provided me with a number of character references.

“She has undertaken substantial work herself to address a clear, underlying issue. She knows the matter is not over and will hang over her head for a period of time.”

Consequently, Sheriff Murray reduced her jail sentence from 10 to seven months, saying: “I take account of the very significant steps you have taken and the background so, exceptionally, I assess the headline sentence as 10 months restricted to seven months.”