Painter shares lottery win with best pal

Willie Sibbald, 48, from Edinburgh (right) with his best friend Rab Layden, who he is sharing his £7 million lottery win with.

A painter and decorator – who won the lottery – will share his £7 million fortune with a workmate.

Willie Sibbald, is sharing his winnings with his pal Rab Layden, to honour a long-standing pact to “see each other right”.

Mr Sibbald, 48, from Edinburgh, matched all six numbers on his Lucky Dip ticket for Saturday’s Lotto rollover draw, scooping a whopping £7,084,472.

Upon winning, Mr Sibbald called his friend and colleague of seventeen years, Mr Layden and broke the news. Both men handed their notice in yesterday.

Willie Sibbald, 48, with his lottery cheque.

The two men have played the lottery every week for years. Each men bought two tickets each, with the promise that if one of them won, then they would make sure that the other man never needed to work again.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Mr Sibbald said: “We used to say ‘Imagine it was us, what would you do?’ But you never expect it.

“It’s one of those things you say. You’re sitting there eating your piece and you’d say ‘Rab, imagine if we won this, you’d never need to work again.’ But you never really think it’s going to happen.”

The two men are avid followers on the Scottish national football team, and are excited to start travelling for away matches.

Mr Layden, 57, also from Edinburgh, was at work painting a kitchen when he received the call from his pal announcing the lottery win.

The two men, who decorated both houses and commercial properties, then met up, before deciding to tell their bosses that they would not be returning to work.

Mr Layden said: “He phoned me at 1.45pm and said ‘By the way I’ve got something to tell you, are you sitting down? I’m the guy that won the lottery’ – and I about collapsed.

“I then met him at the yard and told the bosses at 2.40pm and retired five minutes later. Then we went for a pint.

“The trust and the loyalty is there, there was never any doubt about it. Truth and honesty always comes to the fore.”

Willie Sibbald,celebrating his win.

Mr Sibbald admitted that he had fallen asleep during the live draw and had not been aware of his winnings. He only became aware that he was a multimillionaire when he later watched television and saw the winning numbers during an advert break.

Describing the moment he realised he had won, Mr Sibbald said: “I was staying with one of my relatives and I checked the ticket and shouted to my aunty ‘I’ve won the lottery’ and we checked the ticket again and again. It was just crazy.”

Concerned that his aunty’s dog, Sandy would eat the ticket, he hid it away, worried that the dog’s penchant for eating paper may ruin such a dream.

“I was just looking at the ticket and wanted to phone somebody but had to wait to get it verified. I hardly got a wink of sleep all night.

“My brother was on a night out so I waited until the following morning and called his wife to pass on the good news. She didn’t believe me at first and thought I was joking – it’s not exactly a call you expect on a Sunday morning.”

After retiring, he says that he wants to learn how to drive and buy a Rolls-Royce.

“It’s been such a whirlwind I’ve not had time to really think about what I will do with the money but I will probably learn to drive and get myself a car,” he said.