£45m lottery winner faces fatal crash trial
ONE of Britain’s youngest ever l ottery winners has been accused of killing a 75-year-old grandmother following a car crash on Christmas Day last year.
Matt Topham, 31, who won £45 million in 2012 aged 23, allegedly caused the death of Mary Jane Regler, 75, and seriously injured Rodney Leslie Regler, her husband, while at the wheel of his BMW, which was involved in a collision with the couple’s Ford Fiesta.
Whe n Mr Topham appeared at Lincoln magistrates’ court on Oct 15, he entered no plea and his case was automatically sent to the crown court owing to the seriousness of the charges.
At that appearance, the father- of- three faced two charges – causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving on Louth Road, North Cockerington, Lincolnshire, on Dec 25 2019.
During yesterday’s hearing, at Lincoln crown court, no charges were put to the defendant and the j udge adjourned his case until Dec 1 8. Mr Topham is believed to have appeared at court via video link.
It i s understood that a provisional trial date of the week beginning March 8 2021 was set by the judge.
Mr Topham and his wife Cassey – then his fiancée – used their Euromillions win to buy a mansion in Lincolnshire, as well as spending £600,000 on a petting zoo for Mrs Topham’s mother, which she runs with two of her daughters, according to The Sun.
It was reported last year that the couple had paid off the mortgages of family and friends.
In 2012, Mrs Topham described how she decided to buy the Euromillions tickets after staff at the Iceland store where she worked shared a £10,000 prize.
She said at the time: “Having played [the lottery] not very often – I’d won £10 twice – I thought, ‘Seeing as I’m feeling a little bit lucky £10 will help us,’ so I decided to give it a go.”