Harrowing curse of UK's biggest lottery winners as £83million Euromillions jackpot claimed

Striking it affluent with a lottery win is often seen arsenic the eventual fantasy, but for some, it turns into an implicit fearfulness story. Over the years, determination person been galore tales of lottery winners plunging into despair aft their jackpot wins, starring to ruined marriages, fractured families, and destroyed homes.

While a fistful of fortunate individuals relish their newfound millionaire status, past has repeatedly shown that wealthiness doesn't ever bring happiness.

Some unfortunate souls caught successful the 'lotto curse' person squandered their riches connected narcotics, alcohol, and unwise investments, portion others person recovered themselves astatine likelihood with household members. As 1 fortunate EuroMillions winner finally takes location the £83.5million jackpot prize, we bespeak connected immoderate of the little fortunate winners whose lives took a crook for the worse....

Karl Crompton

Karl Crompton became a cautionary communicative of the dreaded 'lottery curse' erstwhile his narration with his puerility sweetheart crumbled. He scooped £11million from the National Lottery astatine the tender property of 23 successful 1996 and managed to treble his luck done astute investing.

However, by 2020, his woman Nicole, parent to his 2 children, was seen leaving their lavish £2million location helium had built successful Fylde, Lancs, without her wedding ring. "We're each a spot disquieted astir Karl," a person confided to the Sun, reports the Mirror.

"He seems heartbroken."

Margaret Loughrey

For Margaret Loughrey, her windfall turned retired to beryllium a surviving hell. She deed the jackpot, winning astir £27million successful November 2013, aft buying her summons station a travel to the Jobcentre.

Before her life-changing win, she was scraping by connected a meagre €83 a week, surviving arsenic a divorcee successful a quaint cottage successful Strabane, Co Tyrone. As 1 of six siblings, she archetypal shared the quality with her member Paul, who instantly sensed occupation ahead.

Speaking to the Irish Sunday Mirror, helium recounted: "I was the archetypal to beryllium told. We were adjacent close up until the money. But from that time I knew. I told the remainder of the household this is not going to beryllium bully for Margaret.

"Over the years radical person said to me, 'It indispensable beryllium large to triumph each that?' But I'd accidental beryllium precise cautious what you privation for due to the fact that it astir ruined each our family. Not conscionable Margaret."

The strain of her newfound wealthiness soon became unbearable, starring her to sever ties with her relatives – but not earlier she generously doled retired £1 cardinal apiece to each household subordinate and respective adjacent friends.

Paul reflected: "She didn't privation america successful her beingness but inactive she gave america the money. It doesn't marque sense, does it? But she made definite we were each OK."

Her concern spiralled further when, wrong months, she was committed nether the Mental Health Act. Then, successful 2015, she recovered herself sentenced to 150 hours of assemblage work for an alcohol-fuelled battle connected a taxi driver.

Later, she faced a ineligible conflict and was ordered to compensate a erstwhile worker €35,000 successful an unfair dismissal lawsuit aft making derogatory remarks astir his Catholic beliefs.

In 2019, she described her lottery triumph arsenic a curse that "sent her to hellhole and back," lamenting: "Money has brought maine thing but grief. It has destroyed my life."

Despite her idiosyncratic turmoil, she generously invested successful her community, covering ceremonial expenses for those struggling financially and backing captious surgeries for sick children. Tragically, she passed distant unsocial successful a humble bungalow, having near down her £1million Grand Designs-style location pursuing a diagnosis with a 'serious illness'.

In the aftermath of her passing, Paul believes it's clip to rethink jackpot sizes. He argued: "It's clip they look astatine the size of jackpots. They request to beryllium capped. An mean idiosyncratic moving successful a mill oregon a telephone centre similar I was can't woody with wealth similar that."

The UK National Lottery relation responded by stating: "Camelot takes its work of attraction to winners precise earnestly and each large winners are offered enactment and proposal for arsenic agelong arsenic they wish."

Lee Ryan, an aboriginal victor who deed a £6.5m jackpot conscionable weeks aft the nationalist lottery kicked disconnected successful 1994, splurged connected luxury cars, a helicopter, and a £2m mansion. However, his fortunes took a crook for the worse erstwhile helium was imprisoned for handling stolen vehicles and adjacent experienced homelessness successful London, aboriginal branding his windfall arsenic "cursed".

Colin and Christine Weir

Colin Weir and his wife, Christine, deed the jackpot successful 2011 erstwhile they won a staggering £161million connected Euromillions. The mates became Scotland's largest ever Lotto winners and generously shared their wealth, donating ample sums to worthy causes.

Colin besides poured wealth into his beloved shot club, Partick Thistle, and splashed retired connected an array of cars and properties. The couple, who had been unneurotic for 38 years, parted ways successful April 2019.

Tragically, Colin passed distant from sepsis successful December 2019, by which clip his luck had dwindled by £40 million. Prior to his death, helium astutely purchased a 55 percent involvement successful Partick Thistle with the volition of gifting the nine to its fans and ensuring it remained successful the hands of the section community.

At the clip of his passing, helium resided successful a £1.1million five-bedroom seafront spot successful Ayr, which helium acquired successful June 2018 pursuing his marital split.

Adrian and Gillian Bayford

Adrian and Gillian Bayford struck golden successful 2012 erstwhile they won an unthinkable £148million successful the lottery. However, little than a twelvemonth and a fractional later, the mates separated, with accent from their tremendous triumph partially to blasted for their downfall.

Since their windfall, some Adrian and Gillian person recovered themselves successful the spotlight owed to their consequent relationships.

Adrians emotion beingness has been thing abbreviated of a rollercoaster, with his unchangeable miss fiancée Samantha Burbidge, 30, calling it quits successful 2017. To adhd insult to injury, helium was aboriginal fixed the footwear by waitress Lisa Kemp aft she stumbled upon flirty texts to an aged flame, Marta Jarosz.

Meanwhile, Gillian faced her ain acceptable of challenges erstwhile she was recovered blameworthy successful 2020 of threatening her erstwhile beau Gavin Innes during their narration that ended successful 2017. However, during her trial, it came to airy that she had endured a vile drawstring of online maltreatment and mendacious accusations aimed astatine her societal circle, including her golf nine and a children's charity.

Gillian moved connected to necktie the knot with Brian Deans successful 2018, contempt his past condemnation for swindling implicit £13,500 from Tesco via fraudulent refunds. "I've known from the precise opening and it doesn't fuss me," Gillian remarked post-nuptials.

"Everyone has a past but you can't unrecorded successful the past. You've got to determination on."

Jane Park

Jane Park, Britain's youngest Euromillions winner, scooped a chill £1million jackpot but present reckons beingness was little analyzable earlier her windfall. She adjacent went arsenic acold arsenic offering £60,000 a twelvemonth to anyone consenting to beryllium her beau, pursuing a pugnacious clip uncovering Mr Right.

She erstwhile confessed: "At times it feels similar winning the lottery has ruined my life. I thought it would marque it 10 times amended but it's made it 10 times worse."

Roger and Laura Griffiths

In 2005, a mates deed the jackpot with a monolithic £1.8 cardinal lottery win, starring them to permission their jobs arsenic an IT manager and teacher behind. They splashed retired connected a swanky barn conversion successful North Yorkshire, forking retired £800,000, and Roger adjacent got to grounds a tune with his aged assemblage band.

Despite shrewd investments, the 2008 lodging clang tanked their property's value, and by 2013, their romance had fizzled, taking their luck with it.

Jason and Victoria Jones had hardly been joined a twelvemonth erstwhile they scooped up a chill £2.3 cardinal successful 2004. Their newfound wealth, however, turned into a poisoned chalice, leaving them much upset than elated—despite acquiring a plush residence, a chic sports car, and a lavish spot postulation successful Devizes, Wiltshire.

A decennary aft their windfall, the mates went their abstracted ways. Victoria didn't mince her words astir the burdens of wealth, confessing: "It's astir apt 1 of the worst things that's ever happened to me. Without a shadiness of a doubt. The accent it gives you successful beingness and adjacent 12 years down the line, I'm inactive classed arsenic a lottery victor and it's horrible. It ruins your life. People dainty you otherwise – it's conscionable not a bully thing."

Callie Rogers

Callie Rogers was conscionable 16-years-old erstwhile she landed the monolithic cardinal lb jackpot backmost successful 2003. But present 36, she has spent the past astir 20 years burning done her wealth connected monolithic parties, decorator clothes, drugs and cosmetic surgery.

The mum-of-four, from Workington, Cumbria, aboriginal described her winnings arsenic a curse and told ITV’s ‘This Morning’ she battled slump during the unit of winning and adjacent tried to instrumentality her ain life.

She added: "Not knowing who liked maine for me, and having each the accent of each the money, I conscionable wanted to spell backmost to having a mean life. I inactive conflict with spot issues."

The erstwhile £3.60-an-hour checkout idiosyncratic had a unsmooth drawstring of years pursuing her lotto win.

She splurged £18,000 connected integrative surgery, £250,000 connected cocaine, different £300,000 connected apparel and gave distant £500,000 to friends and household arsenic she blew done her fortune.

But of the wealth she gave to household and friends, she soon realised immoderate radical were conscionable utilizing her.

Of her cause use, The Sun reported she said: “I’d ne'er tried them until I was 21 and adjacent past it was lone astatine weekends if determination was a enactment and idiosyncratic had some. But that play lone lasted for astir a year.”

After crashing her car portion connected cocaine, she was capsicum sprayed and deed with a driving ban. She refused to supply a enactment illustration and appeared astatine Workington Magistrates Court wherever she was banned from getting down the instrumentality for 22 months and fixed an 11-week curfew.

In 2021 she was near connected cosmopolitan recognition aft spending each her winnings, but the mum said she doesn’t regret the win.

Callie said: “We each marque mistakes successful beingness and I made immoderate erstwhile I was young and naïve but winning the lottery was a large portion of becoming the idiosyncratic I americium contiguous and I’m arrogant of who I am.”

But she’s called retired for lottery bosses to rise the minimum property of playing to 18 and said 16 is excessively young to grip specified winnings responsibly.

Callie added: “You’re lone 16, with each that responsibility. At that age, you tin get the champion proposal ever but you’re not successful a presumption to listen. I was excessively young. Overnight I went from carefree kid to adult.”

In April 2021, lottery bosses implemented the change, raising the minimum property to 18.