A NEWCASTLE man has claimed a $200,000 lottery win collected five months after the jackpot was drawn.
The Newcastle man clinched the prize in a May 31 draw but came forward with the winning entry, which he said had been in his wallet the entire time, this week.
"Whenever I was buying something, I would always see it in my wallet and think to check it, but just forget," the winner, who wishes to remain anonymous, said.
"Yesterday I was buying a paper at the newsagency and decided I would finally check it.
"It's funny because the other month I was watching TV with my wife and they were talking about a Powerball winner who hadn't claimed their prize and we were just talking about how silly they were to not check their ticket.
"My wife called me an idiot. She made me check the whole house to see if we had any other tickets that needed to be checked."
The cash will go towards a new car, a new house, charity and paying bills.
"It has come at the perfect time because we've been struggling a bit lately," he said.
The entry was purchased in at Lambton Nextra in Elder Street. Owner Trish Firth said she was "relieved" the winner was found.
