Man misses out on £14 million lottery win because he bought his ticket 7 SECONDS too late

Joel Ifergan embarked on a seven-year legal battle in an effort to claim his share of the huge jackpot, but he has finally lost his case

A man has been denied part of a £14 million lottery jackpot because he bought his winning ticket seven SECONDS too late.

Canadian Joel Ifergan thought his lucky numbers had come up after he bought a ticket for the Lotto Super 7 draw on May 23 2008.

He went to a local convenience store just before 9pm to buy two tickets, and the shop assistant told him to hurry before the 9pm deadline.

But while one ticket was registered at 8.59pm, the second ticket - the winning one worth $27 million - was printed and registered at seven seconds past 9pm.The shop assistant told Mr Ifergan that only one ticket had registered in time, but he still said he wanted to pay for both.

However, when he went to claim his half of the jackpot - which was split between two winners that week - he was told his ticket wasn't eligible.

He sued Loto-Quebec for the processing delay.

But after a seven-year legal battle his fight finally came to an end yesterday when Canada's Supreme Court ruled against his case.