Inside story: South Australian man Terry Scott Woodall’s $15m lotto win and 10-year court saga

A $15m lotto jackpot would ordinarily be life changing for all the right reasons. But for Terry Woodall it was the latest chapter in a seemingly never-ending court drama.

It is a trope common to fairy tales and horror stories alike – an unexpected discovery of gold or jewels that brings a person great wealth, but also great misfortune.

From the tale of King Midas to the concept of the monkey’s paw, the pessimistic idea that fortuitous riches bring foul hardship haunts the human psyche.

But such tales are no mere fantasy for one builder from Keith, nor for the lawyers who represented him and the prosecutors who pursued him for alleged wrongdoing.

Through multiple courts and over a decade, this is the story of Terry Scott Woodall – whose $15 million lottery win, amid personal bankruptcy, was anything but outrageous fortune.

Terry Woodall outside court after one of his appearances. Picture: Mitch Mott

BIG LOSSES

Mr Woodall’s story starts prior to 2013, when he became embroiled in a District Court lawsuit with a person for whom he was building a home.

After losing his lawyer, who departed the case two weeks prior to trial, Mr Woodall tried to represent himself – and lost.

On February 6, 2013, he took out a $20,000 loan to help pay for his son’s private school tuition fees.

The following day – February 7, 2013 – he filed for bankruptcy, seeking relief from debts in excess of $450,000.

As a result of his bankruptcy filing, Mr Woodall was ordered to pay his creditors $337,000.

The dates surrounding Mr Woodall’s bankruptcy would become important in the months to come, as would Mr Woodall’s alleged behaviour over that period.

In September 2017, Commonwealth prosecutors charged Mr Woodall with making false declarations about bankruptcy, and taking out loans as a bankrupt.

Their case, in the Adelaide Magistrates Court, centred on the private school fee loan which, they alleged, Mr Woodall had taken out as a bankrupt.

They also alleged he had failed to disclose an interest in a $120,000 house, a Camero Nordic MK2 ski boat and boat trailer – together worth $17,466.

They further alleged he failed to tell his creditors he traded the boat and trailer for an interest in a Mobius IXL speedboat, valued at $67,466, which was held in his brother-in-law’s name.

Mr Woodall pleaded guilty, was convicted and fined $4000 – but his fortunes were about to change.

BIG WINS

Sometime prior to June 2018, Mr Woodall won a $15 million lotto jackpot.

He offered to pay his creditors $100,000 to discharge his bankruptcy but, with interest and associated fines and fees, the final total paid came to $1,000,050.

Two years after paying that amount and clearing his obligation, Mr Woodall was charged again – this time with concealing his winnings from his creditors.

The $100,000 offer amounted, Commonwealth prosecutors alleged, to an attempt to hide his full windfall from those to whom he owed money.

They took their case to the District Court in September 2020, which has jurisdiction to impose a prison term of up to five years for the offence.

Mr Woodall pleaded not guilty to that charge, but said he was prepared to plead to the lesser charge of being a bankrupt who concealed property valued at $20 or more.

With much of the world in Covid lockdown and the court dealing with its decades-long backlog, Mr Woodall’s plea was accepted by prosecutors.

Now a much less serious offence with a much smaller penalty, the case was remitted to the Magistrates Court – where, in November 2021, it promptly ran aground.

Despite Mr Woodall’s plea, his counsel and prosecutors remained in dispute over the facts underpinning the charge.

Craig Caldicott, for Mr Woodall, said his client “didn’t have any fraudulent intention” and had no idea he was legally required to inform creditors of his windfall.

He said Mr Woodall conceded “ignorance of the law is not a defence” but was pleading guilty on the basis of an error, not criminal intent.

Deeply unimpressed, Magistrate Stefan Metanomski refused to accept Mr Woodall’s plea and sent the case back to the District Court for trial once again.

ALL FALL DOWN

Caught in the District Court’s trial backlog, Mr Woodall’s case floundered for some time as it moved through endless pre-trial hearings.

Those hearings were closed to the public but, in April 2023, the case was back in an open courtroom – but in the Adelaide Magistrates Court once again.

Mr Woodall had filed a claim against Commonwealth prosecutors, asking they be ordered to reimburse his legal costs for the preceding five years.

The back-and-forth tug of war over the charges and his plea, he argued, meant he was out of pocket for reasons out of his control, and deserved his costs.

“It’s not that my client withdrew his plea, it’s that he had his plea cut out from under him,” Lindy Powell KC, for Mr Woodall, told the court.

Seeking to cut the tangled knot of a case, Magistrate John Wells asked the Commonwealth if it would “reanimate” the lesser charge so the matter could be brought to a head.

Prosecutors said they would not adopt that course because the plea had served “a utilitarian purpose” during Covid-19 lockdowns – but no longer met “prosecutorial policy”.

While Mr Wells’ decision on costs was not made public, the charges themselves continued their slow progression through the District Court.

Then, on October 19, prosecutors told Judge Ian Press they were withdrawing all of their allegations and discontinuing their case.

Judge Press told Mr Woodall, who stood quietly in the dock, he was free to go – released from all bail obligations – and the builder replied “thank you”.

Those two words have been his only public statement about the decade-long saga, as he has declined multiple requests from The Advertiser for an interview.

He has returned to his Riddoch Highway home and, according to online searches, continues to operate a business – with a reported revenue, as of May 2023, of $66,384.