The winning ticket was bought at Moores Convenience Store

by Julia Roberts

A shop assistant tried to con a lottery syndicate out of a big payout of almost £80,000 by claiming they had won just £10, a court heard.

Imran Pervais was working at Moores Convenience Store in Mackenzie Way, Gravesend, when he is accused of "deliberately and dishonestly" misleading the ticket holders.

The prosecution claim the "logical conclusion" for the 26-year-old's behaviour was to claim the winning amount of £79,887 himself.

But Maidstone Crown Court was told that Pervais, of Milton Road, Gravesend, claims it was nothing more sinister than a mistake.

"i went and told my boss and he hit the roof and told me to get back down that shop and find that ticket... – callum crosier

Pervais denies fraud by false misrepresentation on May 18 last year.

The jury of eight women and four men was told that Callum Crosier was the organiser of a syndicate on behalf of himself and 27 colleagues at Morrisons Utility Services, in Chatham.

He went into the store on May 18 and handed over four tickets, each containing seven lines, from the previous Saturday's National Lottery draw.

The first produced a £10 win, with a corresponding pink receipt-type slip of paper, while the second was a loser. When the third ticket was checked it too produced a pink slip.

When Mr Crosier asked: "What's that? Another tenner?", Pervais was said to have simply replied: "Yes."

Having been told he had won a total of £20, Mr Crosier used the money and a further £8 to purchase another 28 lines for the next draw.

The winning lottery syndicate from Morrison Utility Services in Chatham

The court heard he then left the shop, where he was a regular customer, and spent the weekend in Germany watching Chelsea beat Bayern Munich in the Champions' League Final.

However, on his return, Mr Crosier checked the numbers on a spreadsheet he used for an additional "in-house" bingo game the syndicate played.

It was then that he realised they had won more than £10 and returned to the store. Mistakenly, he thought they had successfully picked out five numbers and stood to win £1,000, when in fact they also had the bonus ball and their winnings were much bigger.

Pervais was there when Mr Crosier arrived and appeared to be "taken aback" when Mr Crosier told him about their win.

However, Pervais and other staff agreed to search and told Mr Crosier to return a few hours later.

The court heard at this point Crosier informed Camelot what had happened and gave them the unique number for the store's lottery terminal.

Having returned to work still without the missing ticket, Mr Crosier checked the numbers again online and discovered the true size of their win.

"I just sunk," he said. "I was gutted because this had gone from £10 to £1,000 to almost 80 grand.

"I went and told my boss and he hit the roof and told me to get back down that shop and find that ticket."

Pervais was there when Mr Crosier and two colleagues arrived. "You can imagine my mood had changed slightly from winning £1,000," Mr Crosier told the jury.

"I said: 'I'm not leaving this shop until I have this ticket in my hand. It's worth £80,000 and something is not right here.' I wasn't messing around, I wanted my ticket."

The court heard staff, including Pervais, gave Mr Crosier and his colleagues bin bags to search. After about 15 minutes he was invited to search behind the counter.

Wooden platforms were removed from the base of the counter and when a member of staff, not Pervais, swept underneath with a broom, out came a lottery ticket rolled up into a ball.

Shop worker Imran Pervais is on trial at Maidstone Crown Court

As the ticket was unravelled, Mr Crosier focused on the date. "As he opened the ticket I saw the date and grabbed it out of his hand straightaway and said: 'That's my ticket.' I then recognised the numbers," added Mr Crosier.

Mr Crosier said staff were congratulating him and saying they wanted to take a photocopy of the winning ticket to put on display in the shop.

"I was just relieved to have the ticket," he said. "I wasn't suspecting anything."

During cross-examination he agreed Pervais had offered him the winning tickets and corresponding pink slips back when he initially went to the store on May 18.

"That's my fault for being too trustworthy of someone I have known for a few years," added Mr Crosier.

The court heard Camelot launched their own investigation, which led to Pervais' arrest the following month. The money was paid out to the syndicate.

The trial is expected to end on Wednesday.