Young mom, Tania from Plymouth, England was a very lucky lady when she won a bingo jackpot of £101,211.

But problems arose when her two friends, who were enjoying a ladies bingo night out with her that evening, insisted that all three of them entered an agreement to split their winnings. Ms. Burnett denied ever entering into the agreement and refused to split her winnings. Ms. Burnett's friends, Stacey Wilson and Abigail Stacey decided to take the matter to court.

Taxpayers ended up paying thousands of pounds for Ms. Wilson and Ms. Stacey to represent their case. After a lengthy trial of almost three years the Court of Appeals ruled in Ms. Burnett's favor. Lord Justice May ruled that "casual conversation" does not make a legally binding contract.

"The reality is that Miss Wilson and Miss Stacey's bare bones account of what they say was agreed scarcely stands as an agreement enforceable and binding in law," said Lord Justice May.
Ms. Burnett, a 25 year old mother of two, comment to the situation was to tell her ex-friends to "go get stuffed". She argued that if she had won a smaller amount that her friends would not have made such a fuss and taken the matter so far.


- 2007-10-26