It was them: 10 lottery winners and losers

1. The biggest single win, of pounds 17.8m, went to a factory worker and his family from Blackburn. "They are a delightful family," announced Camelot. "They have reacted very well to this incredible news." To date, Mukhtar Mohidin, 40, has fled the country for two months, moved to the Home Counties under a new name, been condemned by fellow Muslims for gambling, and has separated temporarily from his wife. A friend is threatening to sue for a share, and Mr and Mrs Mohidin are suing each other for equal rights to the money. "We are still very much in love," she says.

2. Mark Gardiner, 33, shared half of a pounds 22.6m win in June, and was promptly branded a "lying two-faced bastard" by a string of former wives and girlfriends. His third and most recent, though estranged, wife is suing for half his winnings.

3. Jobless Lee Ryan, 32, scooped pounds 6.5m in March. In August he arrived at court in a Bentley Turbo to face charges of handling stolen vehicles. He is now serving an 18-month prison sentence.

4. Joy Senior, 28, stabbed her three children to death, then slashed her wrists and drowned in a pond because she blamed herself for her lover failing to win the lottery, an inquest heard in September. The Seventh Day Adventist had become convinced that her boyfriend had supernatural powers and would win the jackpot, but she believed she had destroyed his chances by talking about his big secret. Her boyfriend said, "I kept telling her I was a normal person".

5. In August, James Madel, a 26-year-old chauffeur, became the first person to stand trial for swindling the lottery. He was jailed for a year for presenting two halves of a torn ticket after the very first draw, claiming it had been ripped in half by his dog.

6. Darren Vowell, 23, bought a Mercedes with an Instants pay-out of pounds 25,000 and promptly had it confiscated by a court. He had boasted in the press about getting the car despite being banned from driving. Police booked him when he took it out for a drive.

7. Timothy O'Brien, a father of two, shot himself dead in April after believing that he had missed out on a pounds 1m win because the tickets he had bought in advance had expired. Only four of his numbers had actually come up. He would have won pounds 27.

8. Mike Evans believed he had won pounds 22m after watching his numbers come up live on television. Fifteen minutes later, his "practical joker" wife, Julie, announced he had been watching a video of an earlier draw, and she had filled out his ticket accordingly. Mike thought "it was a great joke".

9. Old soldier Bert Newman went drinking in January to celebrate a pounds 200 win. After sinking 20 pints he was mugged, the cash was stolen, and he was arrested and thrown in a cell. He was fined pounds 30 for being drunk on a highway.

10. Susan Evans missed out on winning the jackpot by one second. The lottery machine shut down on the 7.30pm deadline in April, just as her winning numbers were being processed. The ticket would have earned pounds 8.5m. Susan's mum, Betty, said: "To lose like this is incredibly sad." Camelot agreed: "This is a most unfortunate case."

DECCA AITKENHEAD