N&S Boosted In National Lottery Court Case
The UK betting regulatory body, the Gambling Commission (UKGC), made serious mistakes in a court case over the new operator of the National Lottery, a judge says.
Allwyn won the chance to run the National Lottery, but N&S is appealing. © Daniela Holzer, Unsplash
Key Facts:
- Allwyn took over from Camelot as the operating company of the UK’s National Lottery in 2022
- The Gambling Commission took charge of the process, which has proven to be controversial
- Northern & Shell, which is owned by businessman Richard Desmond, was also in the running to operate the National Lottery
- UKGC inadvertently handed over thousands of sensitive documents to lawyers acting for Desmond
Czech billionaire Karel Komarek’s firm Allwyn was named the UK’s new National Lottery operator in 2022, with the company taking over from Camelot, which had applied to keep it.
Northern & Shell (N&S), an investment company owned by the controversial entrepreneur Richard Desmond, was also in the running.
Desmond’s lawyers have challenged the process from UKGC, which has now mistakenly given thousands of documents to the N&S team.
Extraordinary and Unprecedented Error
Mrs Justice Jefford presided over a high court hearing last week in which it emerged that UKGC had made the blunder.
The judge described the error as “extraordinary” and “unprecedented”, with the Gambling Commission requesting a six-week extension to go through the documents handed over.
UKGC has been trying to identify how the mistake happened since before Christmas, with London law firm Hogan Lovells representing the regulatory body in the case.
The judge said UKGC could have a week to sort out the document error during pre-trial disclosure and that the regulator must pay the legal costs tallied by N&S.
That money will be taken from the National Lottery’s good causes fund, which will also be used to pay for any other legal costs and settlements in the case.
N&S has reportedly rejected a settlement from the Gambling Commission, which was reportedly worth in the region of £10 million.
The judge will now rule whether the documents that were mistakenly given to the N&S lawyers should be handed back, while it is also possible that they could be redacted.
£200m Court Case
The full court case is set for October, with Desmond seeking as much as £200 million in damages.
Desmond is one of the UK’s most notable businessmen, having amassed an empire including Express newspapers, pornographic titles and celebrity magazines like OK!
Last year, the Gambling Commission told the high court that it would be “astonishing” if the N&S claim was successful. However, document disclosure could have a major impact on the outcome of the court case.
Allwyn won a 10-year licence to operate the National Lottery and has revamped it with new technology, including the recent rollout of digital display units to sell scratchcards in UK supermarket ASDA.
But the company has experienced a range of technological issues since taking charge of the lottery, though it pushed through the rollout of new lottery terminals at Morrisons forecourts.
