How much is a $20 Lotto ticket worth if it only wins $1?
That was the unlikely legal conundrum faced by Judge John Macdonald in the Dunedin District Court yesterday.
David Owen Sinclair (38) was the man in the dock, a long history of dishonesty convictions in his wake.
The most recent was a count of receiving.
On the evening of June 27, a car was broken into in English Ave in Dunedin.
Along with other items stolen was a $20 Lotto ticket.
Days later, one of Sinclair's associates took it to a supermarket to check whether there was a windfall in store.
The machine made the triumphant jingle - a $1 Strike bonus ticket.
On July 4, police inquiries led them to Sinclair's home, where they executed a search warrant.
There they found the stolen ticket along with the bonus prize.
And it got worse for Sinclair.
While officers were in the house they noticed a suspicious aroma.
They found 0.5g of cannabis, cannabis seeds and utensils for smoking the class C drug.
Sinclair appeared on the drugs charges in August and was fined $200, along with court costs of $130.
Judge Macdonald yesterday had a more difficult decision to make for receiving the Lotto ticket.
"What is the value?" Judge Macdonald asked police and the defence counsel.
"It could have been worth millions."
On Sinclair's behalf, David McCaskill argued his client should only have to repay $1 since that was all it yielded.
But police prosecutor Stewart Sluis said that the victim had been robbed of "the excitement" of checking the ticket.
After mulling over both sides of the argument, as well as hearing an interjection from the defendant, the judge summed the situation up.
"I'm sure I've got better things to do than dwell on the value of a Lotto ticket," he said.
Judge Macdonald ordered reparation of $20.
Along with a fine of $200 and court costs, the entire process cost Sinclair $680.
It is unknown whether the $1 Strike ticket was a winner.
