Home /
News /
Michael Carroll – How The Lottery Can Prove To Be A Curse /

Michael Carroll – How The Lottery Can Prove To Be A Curse

Michael Carroll hit the jackpot with £9.7 million from the National Lottery. He was a 19-year-old manual labourer. As his aspirations were clouded by a lack of education, he decided to spend the money like a boss. Drugs, prostitutes, fast cars and a luxury mansion all seemed like a perfectly reasonable way of enjoying all that dosh. As you can imagine, the press had a field day. But Michael was living the dream. Of course, it would all end, But why not have a massive party until it finally does.

Rate this news

Michael Carroll ‘The King of Chavs’ Lottery Millionaire

Let’s be frank, everybody who buys a lottery ticket at TheLotter fantasises about how they might win the jackpot online. But for a young 19-year-old Michael Carroll, winning was to prove both a blessing and a curse. In November 2002, Carroll landed £9.7 in the National Lottery. As far as prizes go, this is probably the best lottery to play. Yet less than 8 years later, he was bankrupt and living on social benefits. All the money went on drugs, alcohol, prostitutes and fast cars. Of course, he was perfect for the press who labelled him as the “lotto lout.” Mind you, his anti-social behaviour, which even led to prison time, didn’t exactly help his cause. Michael Carroll called himself the “King of the Chavs and, as a social observation, this certainly had a ring of truth to it.

Too Much, Too Soon

On Saturday the 2nd of November, Michael Carroll realised that his Lucky Dip lottery ticket for the National Lottery draw held the winning number. Amazingly he was the only player with the winning combination and therefore is entitled to the whole prize of £9,736,133. Though he had enough money to last a few lifetimes, as well as to be able to buy virtually everything he desired, the massive prize was to prove he’s undoing. Indirectly it cost the divorce from his wife and the loss of access to his daughter. He became addicted to crack cocaine. Unfortunately, he attracted a huge number of hangers-on. These newfound friends and acolytes helped suck him dry. As time passed, he ended up receiving daily death threats along with a deterioration of his mental health.

Having enjoyed life as a petty criminal, he actually collected his winnings whilst wearing an electronic monitoring tag. At the time he didn’t have a bank account. Rather amusingly, Camelot, the lottery organisation, suggested he joined Coutts private bank. That such a prestigious organisation would ever consider his application was almost laughable. Of course, they declined him on account of him having a criminal record.

Living It Large

One of the first items that Michael Carroll bought was a six-bedroom home which he called “The Grange.” He paid the total of $340,000 but later went on to spend an extra $400,000 on upgrades, including a swimming pool and a jacuzzi. To the consternation of his neighbours, he then bought 3 acres of land surrounding the property. He promptly turned this into a banger racing track. According to the lotto news of the time, his long-suffering wife Sandra soon became concerned at his reckless spending. But the young Michael was on a roll. He had no intention of slowing down. As direct without result, within 6 months Sandra left, taking with her their baby daughter. As well as £1.4 million.

It appeared that she had been able to influence him slightly by stopping being too reckless. But now with her gone, Carroll’s life seemed to spin out of control. He would enrage the neighbours with his crazy antics which include holding a drug-fueled party with prostitutes that lasted for days. He created such a hoo-ha in the neighbourhood that the local council set up a hotline for neighbours to be able to report disturbances. How very different from another lottery winner, Colin Weir.

Play EuroMillions online at theLotter without leaving your home!

Michael Carroll – The Notorious Lottery Millionaire

Within months he turned his beautiful home into an absolute eyesore. By utilising the banger track, it left lots of wrecked cars piled up around the premises. What’s more, the racing was going on almost every day. There were huge bonfires with burning tyres producing thick black acrid smoke burning with tires. When he wasn’t irritating the neighbours with the deafening sounds of crashing cars and blaring music, he was smoking up to £2,000 worth of crack cocaine every day. And just to top it all off, he would down two bottles of vodka every day as well. Another huge daily spend was on prostitutes. He even described how he was robbed of $100,000 in jewellery by a working girl. In spite of this, he simply went out to replace the lost jewellery by buying a new batch the following day.

Michael Carroll 8 Years Later

Michael Carroll was declared bankrupt in 2010. As part of the bankruptcy agreement, he was forced to sell The Grange. Even though he spent over £600,000 buying and “renovating” it, in the end, it went to an auction for just $142,000. In truth, it was damaged beyond repair and the once-grand home was now dilapidated. The house was covered with smashed furniture and rubbish. At the time Carroll was so broke that he claimed Job Seekers Allowance. He also claimed that he’d given away over £3 million to friends and family. Around £1.5 million went on alcohol and drugs. Another half million pounds on holidays and cars. As far as investments, well in truth he did put money into his favourite football team, Glasgow Rangers. But as money became tight, he withdrew the investment and spent it all.

When questioned about his overall experience of winning the lottery, he said it only brought unhappiness and negativity to his life. He pointed out that on the very first day, he received a death threat and these continued every day for years. He said that the money had bought out the worst in him. And it certainly bought out the worst in his family and friends, even though he generously gave them millions. Interestingly enough, he continues to buy National Lottery ticket scratch cards to this day. If you want to try your luck, then head over to TheLotter. They have every lottery from around the world, all with massive life-altering prizes.

Don’t Look Back In Anger

Now older and perhaps slightly wiser, Michael Carroll says that he has no real regrets. “I’ve experienced more in a decade than most people would in two lifetimes but I’ve no regrets and I’d do it all again.” In 2013 in order to escape from the media circus that constantly hounded him, he moved to the north of Scotland. There he took a job in a biscuit packing factory earning £204 a week. This also allowed him to be closer to his daughter and more importantly, make a completely fresh start. After living there for some months, he was enjoying a healthy lifestyle and was now drug-free.

Today Michael Carroll has moved out of the limelight. His lottery winning story opened like the burst of fireworks but gradually fizzled out. The perfect rags to riches to rags story that the media so love to feed the public, ever jealous and hungry for petty scandal. A sort of Shakesperion morality tale for the masses that’s also happened to other lottery winners. But it’s hard not to admire him. He lived out the hedonistic lifestyle by choice, whilst ensuring that his family and wife were taken care of financially. Keep in mind he was just 19 years old when he won. The last piece of news we heard from him was in 2019. According to the latest lottery news, he’s working contentedly in Scotland as a lumberjack for £10 an hour.