Meet the National Lottery winners who say bagging the multi-million pound jackpot ruined their lives
Callie Rogers, Michael Carroll and Lee Ryan have proved that money doesn't buy happiness
EVERYONE dreams about what they’d do if they won the lottery.
From dramatically resigning from their job to buying a plush mansion in the country and jetting off on an exotic holiday, many believe having millions in the bank would lead to eternal happiness.
But it doesn’t always turn out like that – having those six lucky numbers has turned out to be a curse rather than a lucky break for some jackpot winners.
Euromillions winner Adrian Bayford was left distraught earlier this week after his stable-girl fiancée walked out of their mansion – taking up to 30 of the prize horses he’d bought with her.
Sam Burbidge, 29, spirited them away from 46-year-old Adrian’s £6million home south of Cambridge while he was being comforted by his former wife in Scotland.
Sam galloped into the sunset with horses worth up to £300,000, a £100,000 horsebox and a £60,000 sports car.
Dumped Adrian was left to find the stables emptied when he returned from a week visiting his ex-wife Gillian and their two children aged ten and eight.
Adrian and Gillian, 44, scooped £148million in August 2012 while living in Haverhill, Suffolk.
They split up 15 months later after nine years of marriage but remain good friends.
But Adrian isn’t the only one whose life was left in tatters after his big win, as these horror stories show.
CALLIE ROGERS
Callie Rogers became Britain’s youngest lottery winner when she won £1.9million in 2003.
The 16-year-old from Cumbria gave up her £3.60-an-hour checkout job and set about spending her money.
She splashed £11,500 on two boob jobs, £300,000 on clothes, make-up and tattoos, £85,000 on top-of-the-range sports cars and £250,000 on cocaine.
Within a month Callie, who was in foster care after leaving home when her biological parents split up, had also bought a £180,000 bungalow and a £76,000 home for her mum.
“It was too much money for someone so young,” she told Closer Magazine.
“Even if you say your life won’t change, it does and often not for the better.”
She later described the win as a “curse” which drove her to consider suicide.
“I took paracetamol and sleeping tablets. Fortunately, my family found me and took me to hospital,” she said.
“The pressure to splash out and live a glam party life has gone – and I prefer it,” she said.
MICHAEL CARROLL
The self-styled ‘King of Chavs’ was 19 when he scooped £9,736,131 on the National Lottery in November 2002.
Part-time binman Michael Carroll, who was wearing an electronic tag when he bought his winning ticket, splashed out on a £340,000 on a six-bedroom home in Norfolk.
Not content with the swish property, he lavished £400,000 on a series of upgrades including a swimming pool and a car track in the garden.
Michael also spent around £1million on shares in his beloved Rangers FC and £49,000 on a BMW.
He failed to splash out on any car insurance though, or driving lessons, and was banned from driving for six months in 2004.
‘Lotto lout’ Michael blew millions on crack cocaine, booze, gambling and prostitutes.
“I only started to think about three things – drugs, sex and gold,” he said. “The dealer who introduced me to crack has more of my lotto money than I do.”
He also racked up an Asbo for terrorising his neighbours and spent time in jail for affray and failing to comply with a drug treatment order.
By February 2010 Michael was declared bankrupt and was claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance.
In January, an inquest heard how Michael’s uncle Stephen Muncaster shot his wife as she desperately tried to run away.
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ROGER & LARA GRIFFITHS
Roger Griffiths and his wife Lara netted £1.8million on the National Lottery in 2005.
He had worked as an IT manager and she as a performing arts teacher but both quit their jobs.
The couple enjoyed the high life and went on a lavish spending spree splashing £800,000 on a barn conversion in Yorkshire, flash cars and five-star holidays in Dubai, New York and Monaco.
Wannabe rock star Roger also spent £25,000 making a record with his old band from Lancaster University.
The couple invested in property and a beauty salon but the housing crash saw the value of their portfolio plummet.
By 2013 the money had gone and the couple had split up, each blaming each other for the reversal in their fortunes.
Roger said: “When you’re told you’re a millionaire, it feels limitless. We had played the Lottery for years – when I found out I’d won, it was overwhelming.”
Lara has revealed she has to sell her collection of designer handbags now to get by.
LEE RYAN
Ex-jailbird Lee Ryan scooped the £6.5million jackpot just 17 weeks after the lottery was launched on November 14 1994.
He made headlines when it emerged he was accused of handling stolen cars and was imprisoned for 18 months after his huge payout.
Lee then spent a decade living the high life and splashed his car on luxury cars, a helicopter and a £2million mansion.
But Lee ended up penniless, spent two years living on the street and is now shacked up in a tiny flat in London he shares with homeless pals.
“The money was cursed because I took the p**s out of God when I asked him to make me a multimillionaire. My cellmate warned me to be careful what I wished for,” he said.
Lee ended up splitting with Karen Taylor, his girlfriend of eight years, and moved to London where he met a 25-year-old from Kyrgyzstan.
They took an ill-fated trip to the Central Asian country where Lee attempted to invest the last of his winnings in property.
But he returned empty-handed, claiming to have been stitched up by investors following the Kyrgyzstan revolution in 2010.
GILLIAN BAYFORD
Euromillions mum Gillian Bayford is locked in a family feud over her share of a £148million jackpot.
Gillian, 44, accused her dad Ian McCulloch, 72, of trying to seize control of the fortune she won with her ex Adrian Bayford, 46.
The Dundee mum of two blasted Ian, mum Brenda and brother Colin, 42, saying: “It made them bitter and greedy.”
And she told how she gave them a £20million slice of her fortune — only for them to come back for more.
Gillian, who runs a property firm in Dundee, said: “It’s upsetting and it’s raw. The money was supposed to make everybody happy.
“But it’s made my close relatives demanding and greedy.”