An alleged conman faked his way to a National Lottery jackpot with the help of a Camelot employee, a court has heard.

Jurors were told how the badly damaged ticket successfully used by Edward Putman was given to him by his friend Giles Knibbs, who worked in Camelot’s securities department between 2004 and 2010.

Mr Knibbs later took his own life, having been arrested for burglary, blackmail and criminal damage.

Putman, 54, from Kings Langley in Hertfordshire, is accused of fraud by false representation after pocketing an outstanding prize of £2.5m in 2009.

St Albans Crown Court heard how the pair had fallen out after their successful scam, with Mr Knibbs only receiving around £330,000, much less than had been expected.

Mr Knibbs was alleged to have hatched the plan when, working late one night, he saw a list of big lottery wins which had not yet been claimed.

He was said to have created a fake ticket with the correct numbers and, in August 2009, just before the 180-day limit for claims was about to expire, Putman called Camelot to claim the prize.

Prosecutor James Keeley said: “He was lying. He did not hold the winning ticket, but a forgery created by Mr Knibbs.”

Camelot, he said, “had been conned”.

Asking jurors to “keep your eye on the ball”, he added that, from what Mr Knibbs told his friends, it was clear that “a fraud took place and both he and the defendant were involved in it”.

“The real winning ticket may still be out there, for the real winner has never been identified.”

Mr Keeley said the fraud came to light after Knibbs killed himself at Ivinghoe Beacon in Buckinghamshire in October 2015.

The court was told how a friend staying with Mr Knibbs before his death claimed he was “terrified” the lottery fraud would emerge.

Putman, a 54-year-old builder, denies fraud by false representation.

The case continues.

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