UK’s dodgiest EuroMillions and Lottery winners – from coke dealers to sex addict binmen

The one thing about the EuroMillions and National Lottery is that it doesn’t discriminate.

Once you’ve bought your ticket, you’re in it to win it – whoever you are.

And that means those who win can be from all walks of life – and in some cases, even criminals can win big.

A number of people who have fallen foul of the law have found themselves plenty of consolation as they count the millions in their bank accounts despite their dodgy behaviour.

Here, Daily Star looks at some of the dodgiest.

Because after all, if this lot can walk away with huge jackpots, why can’t you?

Lottery winner on ‘last warning’ from judge

A mum-of-four who won nearly £700,000 on the National Lottery was jailed for stealing a tree.

Nina Hughes, from Dover, was locked up for five days in February 2018 after swiping the bay tree from outside a pub.

She was found guilty by magistrates and then later sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court.

Tom Dunn, defending at an earlier hearing, said that after a series of relationships with “inadequate men” she ended up bringing up four children by herself.

He said: “She became homeless, began drinking and her life spiralled out of control but in 2005, after the birth of her fourth child, she enrolled at Dover South Kent College and became vice-president of the Students Union.

“Then an extraordinary piece of good fortune came her way when she won £691,000 on the National Lottery and bought two houses.”

At her 2018 sentencing, judge Simon James told Huges she was on her “last warning”.

It came after Hughes escaped a jail sentence in 2016 for dealing class-A drugs, admitting she had led a “crazy life”.

She was caught selling heroin and crack cocaine to pay for her own addiction in a police sting.

At the time she narrowly avoided jail after being caught in the operation which has seen nine other people jailed for a total of more than 26 years.

Speaking from her home in Dover, Kent, at the time the then 43-year-old told The Mirror: “I know, I’ve led quite a life, it’s been crazy.

“But my family are really upset about everything that’s happened.”

The sex addict binman

Michael Carroll won the £9.7million jackpot in 2002 but has been in trouble several times since.

Back in 2004, he served a five-month jail sentence for breaching a drug treatment and testing order imposed when he was convicted of possessing cocaine.

In 2006 he was jailed for nine months for going on the rampage with a baseball bat at a disco for young Christians after two of his teenage friends were allegedly attacked.

He has also been served an Asbo and banned from driving.

But after his jackpot win, Carroll’s biggest vice appeared to be women.

His wife Sandra, left him just a month after their wedding in 2003 after being appalled by his incessant partying, saying her husband had been cheating on her with sex workers.

Once she was gone, Michael took part in what he calls “Roman-style orgies” at his five-bed Norfolk mansion while spending £2,000 on cocaine in a single day.

Ex-binman Carroll, of Downham Market, Norfolk, has said: “I regret ever winning the lottery. The money hasn’t changed me but it changed everyone around me.

“I had advice but I didn’t want to take it. I’ve spent £1.2 million on drugs and given £4 million to friends and family.”

Michael lost his entire fortune and was found working for £10 an hour chopping wood and delivering coal in 2019.

Youngest EuroMillions winner was three times over drink-drive limit

Jane Park won £1million on the EuroMillions with her first lotto ticket when she was just 17 years old.

At the time, Jane was earning £8 an hour as an admin temp and sharing a two-bedroom Edinburgh council flat with mum Linda before her huge jackpot win.

Since then, she has splashed out on a range of cosmetic treatments, including a boob job, a full set of dental veneers, liposuction, Botox, lip enhancements, cosmetic filler, and a bum lift.

But in March 2017 she received an 18-month drink-driving ban after being caught behind the wheel of her BMW 1 Series while three times over the limit.

She has moaned her riches have ruined her life and even threatened to sue lotto operator Camelot, claiming they should not allow someone as young as her to win such a big sum.

Rapist now worth millions

Monster Iorworth Hoare was jailed in 1989 for rape, but won £7.2 million on the Lotto in 2004 while on prison weekend leave.

Hoare had spent 33 years in jail since 1973 for one rape, three attempted rapes, and two indecent assaults.

He was released from prison in 2005 but remains on a life sentence.

Since being released from prison Hoare has been forced to move several times.

In 2011 Hoare quit a luxury home he bought on Newcastle’s Darras Hall estate after the words “Leave or Die” were painted on the gates.

It was rumoured in 2012 that Hoare had decided to splash his cash on a luxury narrowboat to keep on the move.

Skipping court to go on holiday

Scratch card winner Leah Sumray, who scooped £1million at the age of 21, was jailed for 14 days after she went on holiday instead of giving evidence in court in 2009.

She ignored a witness summons and went to Fuerteventura instead of attending Truro crown court in Cornwall where she should have testified against a man on assault charges.

Leah, of St Ives, who earned £4.60 an hour before her win, was arrested at Bristol Airport when she returned and taken before a judge.

“I know I did something wrong and I’m sorry,” she told The Mirror in 2008.

“But I feel I was made an example of because I was a Lotto winner.”