£45M LOTTO DEATH CRASH
YOUNGEST EUROMILLIONS WINNER ACCUSED OF KILLING GRAN
BRITAIN’S youngest ever Euromillions jackpot winner has been charged with killing a grandmother in a Christmas Day car crash.
Matt Topham was just 23 when he scooped £45million with fiancée Cassey Carrington. He is accused of causing the death by dangerous driving of 75-year-old Mary Jane Regler and seriously injuring her husband Rodney, 78.
Father-of-three Topham, now 31, spoke only to confirm his name, age and address when he appeared at Lincoln crown court via video link from the mansion he shares with Cassey, who is now his wife.
His trial was set for next March. The offence carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.
Police said Topham was in a BMW when it collided with the Reglers’ Ford Fiesta near the village of North Cockerington, Lincolnshire, at 5.50pm last December 25.
The elderly couple were heading home after visiting family, with Mr
Regler at the wheel. Topham is also thought to have been returning from relatives.
Mrs Regler was described by her family as a ‘much-loved wife, mum, nan and friend who will be sadly missed’.
Former painter and decorator Topham and his Iceland worker fiancée scooped the jackpot in February 2012. Shortly afterwards, they were married and left their ex-council home in Stapleford, Nottinghamshire.
The keen racing driver owns several Aston Martins and has his own helicopter in a hangar at their mansion in Lincolnshire.
Last week, it was revealed he spent £600,000 buying a petting zoo for his mother-in-law.
In an interview with Cosmopolitan magazine, wife Cassey, also 31, described themselves as ‘modest spenders’. She told how they rarely went on holiday and, although she had bought a new Aston Martin, she preferred to drive her old Fiat 500.
She said: ‘We try to keep things normal. Our friends and family wouldn’t allow us to be big-headed or extravagant.
‘Matt cleans the car; I do our weekly shop at Asda or Tesco.’