Flush with cash… until I flushed it away (Picture: Reuters)

What would you do if you won the lottery? Tell your boss to get stuffed? Jet off somewhere hot to beat the January blues?

For many of us, cracking open some bubbly would be high on the agenda – but if your numbers do come up, you’ll want to avoid following the example of Angela Maier.

The delighted 63-year-old downed five bottles of champagne a few days after her £330,000 windfall… before drunkenly tearing the cash into pieces and flushing it down the toilet.

Mrs Maier’s win on the German national lottery prompted the care home where her husband died to send her a bill towards his medical expenses, a court heard in her home city of Essen.




She opened the letter after downing the champers and – becoming angry – destroyed the cash rather than have some of it taken from her.

Mrs Maier may have made up the story to avoid paying the bills but it would be difficult to prove, the court heard.

She agreed to pay £3,300 in compensation to settle the case.