Striking it rich with a lottery win is often seen as the ultimate fantasy, but for some, it turns into an absolute horror story. Over the years, there have been numerous tales of lottery winners plunging into despair after their jackpot wins, leading to ruined marriages, fractured families, and destroyed homes.
While a handful of fortunate individuals relish their newfound millionaire status, history has repeatedly shown that wealth doesn’t always bring happiness.
Some unfortunate souls caught in the ‘lotto curse’ have squandered their riches on narcotics, alcohol, and unwise investments, while others have found themselves at odds with family members. As one lucky EuroMillions winner finally takes home the £83.5million jackpot prize, we reflect on some of the less fortunate winners whose lives took a turn for the worse….
Karl Crompton
Karl Crompton became a cautionary tale of the dreaded ‘lottery curse’ when his relationship with his childhood sweetheart crumbled. He scooped £11million from the National Lottery at the tender age of 23 in 1996 and managed to double his fortune through smart investing.
However, by 2020, his wife Nicole, mother to his two children, was seen leaving their lavish £2million house he had built in Fylde, Lancs, without her wedding ring. “We’re all a bit worried about Karl,” a friend confided to the Sun, reports the Mirror.
“He seems heartbroken.”
Margaret Loughrey
For Margaret Loughrey, her windfall turned out to be a living hell. She hit the jackpot, winning nearly £27million in November 2013, after buying her ticket post a trip to the Jobcentre.
Before her life-changing win, she was scraping by on a meagre €83 a week, living as a divorcee in a quaint cottage in Strabane, Co Tyrone. As one of six siblings, she first shared the news with her brother Paul, who immediately sensed trouble ahead.
Speaking to the Irish Sunday Mirror, he recounted: “I was the first to be told. We were close right up until the money. But from that day I knew. I told the rest of the family this is not going to be good for Margaret.
“Over the years people have said to me, ‘It must be great to win all that?’ But I’d say be very careful what you wish for because it nearly ruined all our family. Not just Margaret.”
The strain of her newfound wealth soon became unbearable, leading her to sever ties with her relatives – but not before she generously doled out £1 million apiece to each family member and several close friends.
Paul reflected: “She didn’t want us in her life but still she gave us the money. It doesn’t make sense, does it? But she made sure we were all OK.”
Her situation spiralled further when, within months, she was committed under the Mental Health Act. Then, in 2015, she found herself sentenced to 150 hours of community service for an alcohol-fuelled assault on a taxi driver.
Later, she faced a legal battle and was ordered to compensate a former employee €35,000 in an unfair dismissal case after making derogatory remarks about his Catholic beliefs.
In 2019, she described her lottery win as a curse that “sent her to hell and back,” lamenting: “Money has brought me nothing but grief. It has destroyed my life.”
Despite her personal turmoil, she generously invested in her community, covering funeral expenses for those struggling financially and funding critical surgeries for sick children. Tragically, she passed away alone in a modest bungalow, having left behind her £1million Grand Designs-style home following a diagnosis with a ‘serious illness’.
In the wake of her passing, Paul believes it’s time to rethink jackpot sizes. He argued: “It’s time they look at the size of jackpots. They need to be capped. An ordinary person working in a factory or a call centre like I was can’t deal with money like that.”
The UK National Lottery operator responded by stating: “Camelot takes its duty of care to winners very seriously and all major winners are offered support and advice for as long as they wish.”
Lee Ryan, an early winner who hit a £6.5m jackpot just weeks after the national lottery kicked off in 1994, splurged on luxury cars, a helicopter, and a £2m mansion. However, his fortunes took a turn for the worse when he was imprisoned for handling stolen vehicles and even experienced homelessness in London, later branding his windfall as “cursed”.
Colin and Christine Weir
Colin Weir and his wife, Christine, hit the jackpot in 2011 when they won a staggering £161million on Euromillions. The couple became Scotland’s largest ever Lotto winners and generously shared their wealth, donating large sums to worthy causes.
Colin also poured money into his beloved football club, Partick Thistle, and splashed out on an array of cars and properties. The couple, who had been together for 38 years, parted ways in April 2019.
Tragically, Colin passed away from sepsis in December 2019, by which time his fortune had dwindled by £40 million. Prior to his death, he astutely purchased a 55 percent stake in Partick Thistle with the intention of gifting the club to its fans and ensuring it remained in the hands of the local community.
At the time of his passing, he resided in a £1.1million five-bedroom seafront property in Ayr, which he acquired in June 2018 following his marital split.
Adrian and Gillian Bayford
Adrian and Gillian Bayford struck gold in 2012 when they won an incredible £148million in the lottery. However, less than a year and a half later, the couple separated, with stress from their enormous win partly to blame for their downfall.
Since their windfall, both Adrian and Gillian have found themselves in the spotlight due to their subsequent relationships.
Adrians love life has been nothing short of a rollercoaster, with his stable girl fiancée Samantha Burbidge, 30, calling it quits in 2017. To add insult to injury, he was later given the boot by waitress Lisa Kemp after she stumbled upon flirty texts to an old flame, Marta Jarosz.
Meanwhile, Gillian faced her own set of challenges when she was found guilty in 2020 of threatening her former beau Gavin Innes during their relationship that ended in 2017. However, during her trial, it came to light that she had endured a vile string of online abuse and false accusations aimed at her social circle, including her golf club and a children’s charity.
Gillian moved on to tie the knot with Brian Deans in 2018, despite his past conviction for swindling over £13,500 from Tesco via fraudulent refunds. “I’ve known from the very beginning and it doesn’t bother me,” Gillian remarked post-nuptials.
“Everyone has a past but you can’t live in the past. You’ve got to move on.”
Jane Park
Jane Park, Britain’s youngest Euromillions winner, scooped a cool £1million jackpot but now reckons life was less complicated before her windfall. She even went as far as offering £60,000 a year to anyone willing to be her beau, following a tough time finding Mr Right.
She once confessed: “At times it feels like winning the lottery has ruined my life. I thought it would make it 10 times better but it’s made it 10 times worse.”
Roger and Laura Griffiths
In 2005, a couple hit the jackpot with a massive £1.8 million lottery win, leading them to leave their jobs as an IT manager and teacher behind. They splashed out on a swanky barn conversion in North Yorkshire, forking out £800,000, and Roger even got to record a tune with his old university band.
Despite shrewd investments, the 2008 housing crash tanked their property’s value, and by 2013, their romance had fizzled, taking their fortune with it.
Jason and Victoria Jones had barely been married a year when they scooped up a cool £2.3 million in 2004. Their newfound wealth, however, turned into a poisoned chalice, leaving them more upset than elated—despite acquiring a plush residence, a chic sports car, and a lavish property collection in Devizes, Wiltshire.
A decade after their windfall, the couple went their separate ways. Victoria didn’t mince her words about the burdens of wealth, confessing: “It’s probably one of the worst things that’s ever happened to me. Without a shadow of a doubt. The stress it gives you in life and even 12 years down the line, I’m still classed as a lottery winner and it’s horrible. It ruins your life. People treat you differently – it’s just not a nice thing.”
Callie Rogers
Callie Rogers was just 16-years-old when she landed the massive million pound jackpot back in 2003. But now 36, she has spent the last nearly 20 years burning through her money on massive parties, designer clothes, drugs and cosmetic surgery.
The mum-of-four, from Workington, Cumbria, later described her winnings as a curse and told ITV’s ‘This Morning’ she battled depression during the pressure of winning and even tried to take her own life.
She added: “Not knowing who liked me for me, and having all the stress of all the money, I just wanted to go back to having a normal life. I still struggle with trust issues.”
The former £3.60-an-hour checkout worker had a rough string of years following her lotto win.
She splurged £18,000 on plastic surgery, £250,000 on cocaine, another £300,000 on clothes and gave away £500,000 to friends and family as she blew through her fortune.
But of the money she gave to family and friends, she soon realised some people were just using her.
Of her drug use, The Sun reported she said: “I’d never tried them until I was 21 and even then it was only at weekends if there was a party and someone had some. But that period only lasted for about a year.”
After crashing her car while on cocaine, she was pepper sprayed and hit with a driving ban. She refused to provide a breath sample and appeared at Workington Magistrates Court where she was banned from getting behind the wheel for 22 months and given an 11-week curfew.
In 2021 she was left on universal credit after spending all her winnings, but the mum said she doesn’t regret the win.
Callie said: “We all make mistakes in life and I made some when I was young and naïve but winning the lottery was a big part of becoming the person I am today and I’m proud of who I am.”
But she’s called out for lottery bosses to raise the minimum age of playing to 18 and said 16 is too young to handle such winnings responsibly.
Callie added: “You’re only 16, with all that responsibility. At that age, you can get the best advice ever but you’re not in a position to listen. I was too young. Overnight I went from carefree child to adult.”
In April 2021, lottery bosses implemented the change, raising the minimum age to 18.
