1. 8 THE IRISH DAILY STAR, Monday January 19 2015
A BOY pricked with a
suspected drug addict’s
syringe faces an agonis-
ing two-year wait to be
cleared of killer sexually
transmitted diseases.
The six-year-old school-
boy was accidentally
jabbed on a Dublin Bus.
Gardai said his injuries
are not known to be life-
threatening — but he
must now undergo a
series of blood tests.
The incident occurred
last weekend on Dublin
Bus’s 66B service, which
goes from the city centre
to Maynooth in Kildare,
and the boy was removed
in Lucan to be rushed to
Tallaght Hospital.
A Dublin Bus spokes-
woman confirmed the
incident occurred at
5.10pm on January 9 and
said an “internal investi-
gation” is underway.
She added that it is “a
rare occurrence” — but
local independent
councillor Liona O’Toole
told The Star: “This has
happened before. It puts
parents through a
traumatic two years.
Dangers
“That’s how long it can
take before the boy will
be cleared of all potential
infections.
“I am a parent myself
and you just dread some-
thing like this. Maybe
Dublin Bus could have
more cleaning sweeps of
problematic routes.
“Maybe also the seat
coverings could be of a
design so that dangers
such as needles are more
visible. There has to be a
review because this is
happening too often.”
Tests for STD infections
take two months for
provisional results, six
months for full results,
while follow-up checks
take up to two years.
Gardai are probing the
case along with Dublin
Bus, and tests are also
being carried out to
determine if the syringe
had been used.
LAST year was the
Earth’s warmest on
record, according to
separate studies by NASA
and the US National
Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
This backs up the
argument that people are
altering the planet’s
climate by relentlessly
burning fuels that belch
greenhouse gases into the
air, the two agencies said.
Data showed the 10
warmest years on record
have taken place since
1997 and scientists said
record temperatures were
spread around the globe.
A SERIOUS Lotto glitch has resulted
in almost 40 tickets being printed
with identical lines of numbers on
them, The Star has learned.
We revealed yesterday one case of a punter
who was shocked when two identical lines
appeared on a EuroMillions QuickPick tick-
et he bought in Gorey, Wexford, on Tuesday.
The National Lottery have since confirmed
— following a “thorough review” — that
they have found 39 instances where Lotto
terminals printed identical sets of numbers
on the same ticket.
A spokesperson said the affected tickets
were printed from December 1 last year,
which followed the start of the installation of
4,000 new ticket machines in shops.
They added that these numbers were
different to the identical lines on the ticket
bought by Paul Chambers (55), from Gorey,
at the start of the week.
Software
“The line duplication could have been
caused by a glitch in our Lottery terminal
software, which randomly selects the
numbers on QuickPick plays,” the National
Lottery said in a statement.
They added that they are continuing to
investigate the matter to ensure that the
problem doesn’t continue.
Mr Chambers said he wrote to the National
Lottery about the bizarre duplicate lines on
his ticket, which he included with his letter.
He
said he
was
“baffled”
when he
saw on his
five-line
€15 ticket
that the last
two lines
were identi-
cal — even
down to the
two bonus
numbers.
The chances of
two identical
lines coming out
on such a ticket
are a staggering
30 million to one.
It also means Mr
Chambers paid €15
for €12 worth of lines.
“I know the odds of winning
the EuroMillions jackpot are
extreme — but what are the odds
of picking five lines of QuickPick
and two lines are exactly the
same?” he asked.
The National Lottery last night
confirmed that the identical lines of
numbers on Mr Chambers’ ticket did not
appear on other tickets in Ireland for the
EuroMillions draw on Tuesday night.
Bookies Boylesports said the odds of two
lines with the same numbers coming out on
a QuickPick are 116,531,800/1 if there are
only two lines on the slip — which is the
same odds for a punter to win the
EuroMillions jackpot.
Machines
However, they said that in Mr Chambers’
case, when there are five lines in total with
two of those lines having the exact same
numbers, the odds would then be 29,132,950/1.
Yesterday, the mystified punter questioned
whether the new Lotto ticket machines can
be trusted — saying: “I won’t be checking my
ticket in them machines anymore.”
The National Lottery said the self-service
ticket checkers are currently linked to the old
lottery terminals in shops and will only check
tickets sold before the end of November 2014.
“The National Lottery will be re-program-
ming these ticket checkers to check tickets
with our new system,” they said. “Software
for this is being fully tested, and the National
Lottery will not make the ticket-checking
service available until it passes all tests and
can be fully trusted by all customers.”
The installation of new lottery ticket
machines, which dispense green tickets
instead of the older yellow ones, is part of a
significant facelift by the new owners of the
National Lottery, Premier Lotteries Ireland.
Wait
agony
for jab
boy (6)
Hottest
year on
record
DOUBLE TROUBLE
FORTY sets of tickets printed
with two lines of same numbers
LOTTS OF
BALLS-UPS
EXCLUSIVE
IT COULD BE YOU:
Michele McGrath
promoting the Lottery
jackpot earlier
this month
GLITCHES BE CRAZY: Paul Chambers’ ticket
I Kevin JENKINSON