From £10m jackpot to heaving bags of coal
INFAMOUS “lotto lout” Mickey Carroll has marked the Lottery’s 25th anniversary by declaring: “Money really is the root of all evil.”
After scooping almost £10million as a 19-year-old Norfolk binman, he blew most of it on drink, drugs, holidays and prostitutes.
His wife Sandra left him, he became homeless and now works seven days a week carrying coal for £10 an hour.
But he says he enjoys a happier lifestyle than when he landed the £9.7million as a teen.
“I reckon I’m lucky to be alive,” he said. “If I still had the money I’d probably be six feet under.”
And Mickey, who delivers coal and logs to fishing villages in the Scottish Highlands, has no regrets.
“It didn’t go wrong,” he said. “It was the best 10 years of my life.
“But I wouldn’t want to turn the clock back – that’s done and dusted. I live a good, free lifestyle now and I’m happier because I’ve got my life back.”
Self-proclaimed “King of the Chavs” Mickey was engaged to Sandra – seven months pregnant with their daughter – when he bought the ticket in 2002.
After giving away £4million to close family, including £1million to Sandra, the teenager was left with £5.7million.
He promptly splashed out on homes, holidays and Roman-style orgies fuelled by cocaine and booze in his sprawling five-bed Norfolk mansion, dubbed The Grange. Sandra left in disgust shortly after they married in 2003.
“Money really is the root of all evil,” said Mickey, whose Lottery empire soon began falling apart.
Homeless
“I’d wake up, do three lines of Charlie (cocaine) and drink half a bottle of vodka before I got out of bed. I was a full-blown alcoholic.
“I had another two houses but it’s all gone – I sniffed ’em away.”
He appeared in the dock over 30 times, often arriving at court in a flash car, swigging from cans of beer.
Jailed for affray in 2006, he ended up penniless before following his estranged wife to Scotland in 2013.
He recalled: “I was homeless for three months. Easy come, easy go.”
He picked up seasonal work at a Walkers biscuit factory, worked in a slaughterhouse and for the past couple of years he’s been in a rented flat earning £400 a week as a coalman. And the lure of the Lottery?
“I do it now and again… hope to win and cheese everyone off.”