Revealed: Boyfriend, 39, claiming half his ex-girlfriend's £1m Lotto scratch card winnings faces trial for beating up another former lover

A man claiming half his ex-girlfriend’s £1million Lotto scratch card winnings is facing trial for beating up another former lover, MailOnline can reveal.

Michael Cartlidge, 39, is to appear in court accused of attacking Crystal Neary-Phillips and smashing up her iPhone 12 during a row last year.

He denies two charges, assault by beating and criminal damage, and will appear before Lincoln Magistrates Court on April 18.

The incident is said to have happened on April 15 last year – six months before he claimed to have scooped a joint jackpot with new girlfriend, Charlotte Cox.

Mr Cartlidge is now embroiled in a legal war with Ms Cox, 37, after claiming they bought a winning Lotto scratchcard together only for her to dump him weeks later and claim the prize for herself.

He admits that Ms Cox paid for and scratched the ticket but claims that he suggested the idea to buy one and later transferred her the cash to cover the purchase.

Michael Cartlidge, 39, (left) is to appear in court accused of attacking Crystal Neary-Phillips (right) and smashing up her iPhone 12 during a row last year

Cartlidge and former girlfriend Charlotte Cox, 37 (pictured) are at war over a £1million Lotto ticket after supposedly buying the ticket ‘together’ before splitting up weeks later

He denies two charges, assault by beating and criminal damage, and will appear before Lincoln Magistrates Court on April 18

He says that the mother-of-one initially agreed to share the money, but after walking out on him changed her mind.

Lottery chiefs Camelot previously launched an investigation — which included viewing CCTV footage from a Nisa supermarket in Spalding, Lincolnshire, where the winning scratch card was bought.

READ MORE: Couple at war over seven-figure Lotto jackpot after mother, 37, dumped boyfriend, 39, who claimed they bought the lucky scratchcard together – and refuses to give him a penny 

Mr Cartlidge had been hopeful that the money would be split but new Lottery owners Allwyn have now ruled that Ms Cox is the rightful claimant.

Security engineer Mr Cartlidge maintains he has a right to half the cash and is considering launching legal action.

He told The Sun: ‘I am in shock. I can openly admit that we wouldn’t have got that ticket without Charlotte, but she wouldn’t have got it without me either.

‘I know it was her bank account that paid for it, but it should go 50-50 morally.’

Ms Cox, however, has hit back at the ‘rubbish’ claims with a friend saying: ‘You can’t believe a word that man says.’

Meanwhile, last night, the shop assistant who sold the warring exes the card weighed in on the debate – saying the jackpot should be split 50/50.

The Nisa worker said she clearly recalled regulars Mr Cartildge and Ms Cox, coming in and buying two cards.

And she claimed the shop’s CCTV picked up Mr Cartlidge showing her his phone, backing his claim that he tried to transfer cash to cover the purchase.

She told the publication: ‘I’m on no one’s side. I like them both. But I honestly believe that the money should be both of theirs.’

The couple had been together for three months before the Lotto drama started.

On the night of the win last November, Mr Cartlidge had been living at Ms Cox’s house in Spalding and they decided to pop to their local Lidl to buy duck pancakes for dinner.

He then claims he suggested to go to the Nisa next door to buy a couple of £5 scratchcards.

According to Mr Cartlidge, his former partner paid for two scratchcards as he had no cash on him.

The incident is said to have happened on April 15 last year – six months before he claimed to have scooped a joint jackpot with new girlfriend, Charlotte Cox

He says that the mother-of-one initially agreed to share the cash, but after walking out on him weeks later, claimed to be the sole winner

He tried to send her money for the scratch cards in the shop via a bank transfer app but the signal was bad and the payment did not go through immediately.

To their amazement when they scratched off the cards back at home, one landed them the £1million jackpot.

Forty minutes later, Mr Cartlidge said his money transfer went through.

The couple celebrated their win with a trip to the seaside. They had multiple plans in the works such as buying a house together and purchasing a car.

The ticket was put in Ms Cox’s name, but said the money was due to go into a joint account.

But three weeks later, ‘out of the blue’, Mr Cartlidge received a call via one of her friends telling him to leave the house.

He did just that but fearing Ms Cox was up to something, he took the winning scratchcard with him to go and stay at his mother’s house nearby.

Upon returning home, Ms Cox realised the card had been taken and got in touch with Camelot to get help with the situation.

Following some mediation, in which representatives from Camelot travelled to Lincolnshire to interview the pair separately about the dispute, they were able to get the ticket back.

Mr Cartlidge said that he spent Christmas Eve at Ms Cox’s house dressed up as Father Christmas, believing the pair had put the dispute behind them.

On January 25, a Camelot official sent a message to the former couple saying that the legal team were still deciding what to do but that a draft was being prepared regarding the sharing of the prize.

Ms Cox claimed her former partner had ‘no right’ to the jackpot

Yet on February 10, less than two weeks since new owner Allwyn took over the running of the National Lottery, Mr Cartlidge was sent a letter saying he was not entitled to any money.

According to Allwyn’s rules, only the name written on the back of the ticket can claim the prize.

In a statement, the company said: ‘The National Lottery Rules for Scratchcard Games make clear that only one person can be the owner of a ticket and that only the person whose name and address is written on the back of a winning scratchcard can claim a prize.

‘This means that a prize can only be paid to one person and this is always communicated clearly to prize claimants.

‘Where a claimant agrees to share a prize with other parties (for example, players in a syndicate) after the prize has been paid, we always recommend that a legal agreement is drawn up between the interested parties.

‘If there is no agreement in place, any dispute between the ­parties needs to be resolved between themselves.’

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