[BingoT]

Bingo Winner Keeps All the Cash

A woman who won a six-figure bingo jackpot has won a Court of Appeal ruling that she does not have to give a penny to the friends who were with her on a night out.

When Tania Burnett scooped £101,211 at a Gala Bingo club in Plymouth, it sparked a bitter legal row with former close friends, Stacey Wilson and Abigail Stacey, who claimed that they had agreed to share any winnings over £10.

advertisementFollowing a marathon court battle — which has cost the taxpayer tens of thousands of pounds — the matter has been settled.

Upholding an Exeter County Court ruling, Lord Justice May said that a "casual conversation" a week before the women played on January 20, 2005, could not be legally binding.

The judge added: "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."

Miss Burnett, who is in her 20s, said they had "discussed" sharing their winnings, but no agreement was in place.