Leah Sumray, 21, who won £1 million on a lottery scratchcard back in October, has been jailed for 2 weeks for failing to appear in court to give evidence in a trial.

The chip shop worker went on a luxury holiday in the Canary Islands instead of appearing in court and was arrested on her return to the UK at Bristol International Airport earlier this week.

She was sentenced yesterday and, as well as her spell in prison, Leah was also ordered to pay a £200 fine by Judge Christopher Elwen at Truro crown court.  In court, Leah was dressed in her summer clothes and had a suntan from her holiday.

The judge ruled that the holiday was an excuse not to turn up to give evidence for the prosecution in an assault case.  Leah claimed she was in fact concerned about the reaction from the defendant in the trial if she gave evidence.

Judge Christopher Elwen dismissed this saying there had been no intimidation by the defendant and described her non-appearance as, “A flagrant and wilful contempt of court for which there was no excuse whatsoever.  Such contempt can only be dealt with by a short, immediate custodial sentence.”

She was first told of the date of the court case in November and at the time she didn’t say she would be unavailable to attend the court heard.  The court also heard that she had forgot about a family holiday which had been booked a long time ago, before saying she would turn up and later that she would be unable to.

Detective Constable Martin Hearn said, “I spoke to her in Fuerteventura on Monday and warned her that her failure to appear would be regarded as a contempt of court and make her liable to arrest.”

The trial went ahead as planned without Leah and Judge Elwen said that her evidence could have had a significant impact on the verdict of the case.

Miss Sumray was due to give evidence against 38 year-old Mark Rodriguez, who was in court on an actual bodily harm charge against his girlfriend, 24 year-old Janine Harkins.

Mr Rodriguez was accused of allegedly punching and kicking Miss Harkins and strangling her with a dressing gown cord until she was unconscious.  He was found innocent of the charges and allowed to walk free from court.

Jeremy Leeming who defended Leah Sumray said his client made an apology to the court, but was naïve and didn’t realise what a serious position she put herself in by not turning up to court.

Leah has refused to comment after her court verdict.

Leah Sumray was employed by the Dolphin Fish and Chip Bar in St Ives, barely making minimum wage at the time she scooped £1 million on a lottery scratchcard last October.

After her lottery win she said, “I was stunned when I saw I had matched the winning symbol for a million pounds.  I was worried it had all been a dream – but it is a dream that had actually come true for me.”

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