EuroMillions draw number 348 of Friday 8th October: Lotto’s finger pointed at Wyken.

The above photograph is of the Devonshire Arms public house in Sewall Highway, Wyken, Coventry. Wyken is a suburb of Coventry three miles northeast of Coventry city centre. Originally, most of the residences in Wyken were terraced houses but several (high and low rise) concrete flats were constructed in the 1960s and 1970s. Wyken is what could be called, “a working class area.” To date, Wyken has given us two notable sons:
– Ian Ross Evatt, a professional footballer who plays for Blackpool Football Club.
– Luke Martin McCormick a former professional footballer. Mr. McCormick played for Plymouth Argyle between 2003 and 2008, but his contract was cancelled by mutual consent in July 2008 after he caused a car crash which killed two children. On 6th October 2008, he was sentenced to seven years and four months in prison, for two counts of causing death by dangerous driving and driving with excess alcohol.
Wyken it seems now has four more notable sons. These are the four (presently anonymous) friends who won the EuroMillions draw number 348 of Friday 8th October and £113,019,926.
The four men, said to be aged from their mid-twenties to around 40, were reported by The Sun to be fearful of being targeted by crime gangs after warnings from Camelot and Scotland Yard.
A friend of the four told the paper: “One of the reasons they decided to stay anonymous was because someone planted the idea that shady gangs, including Albanians, might target them. It seems pessimistic, but perhaps they’re not thinking straight.”
The four are said to have each put £20 into a pint pot before picking their numbers and delayed claiming their prize until Wednesday when one of them returned from a holiday in South Africa.
It is believed they plan a celebratory champagne party in a London hotel this weekend.
British Gazette comment: Readers should know by now this organ’s attitude towards Lottery jackpot winners remaining anonymous. It is based on the simple belief that it can not be a good thing for a person to lie to their family and friends, as this is what would generally be required for a person to keep such a thing secret. Of course, if there are specific and genuinely valid reasons for anonymity and this can be achieved in practise then it might be justified. In the absence of specific information about the validity of the winners fears this organ agrees with the friend of one of the four in that they are not thinking straight. Of course, it may well be that the police have actual knowledge of a threat towards the four men. If this is the case it is possible that it is because one or more of the men are let us say, “known to the police.” It is a fact that most acts of violence and demands with menace are criminal to criminal. Our neighbour, a police officer has advised us that – contrary to popular belief – statistics show that an ordinary law abiding member of the public is unlikely to be a victim of violent crime or such as kidnap, blackmail, demands of money with menaces. The British Gazette therefore has this advice to the four winners: If you are ordinary law abiding chaps then you have nothing to fear about coming forward. Do not try and live the rest of your lives in the shadows. In any event such a strategy is doomed to failure for already quite a lot is known about you.