Young plumbing worker James Clarkson is the latest in a long line of young lottery winners.
Sadly, for many of them, the millions did go down the drain. Britain’s youngest lottery winner Callie Rogers called on the Government to raise the age limit for the game after she blew her entire £1.875m jackpot. Callie, also from Cumbria like James, had just turned 16 when she became an instant millionaire on June 28, 2003, and remains the youngest ever jackpot winner in the main draw.
Now 37, she struggled with the fame, and personal attacks. “I still get abuse because of who I am,” she told the Mirror in 2019. “It comes from people who do not even know me.” She gave almost all of the money away, lavishing hundreds of thousands on family and friends. Years later, she was still owed at least £200,000 by ‘fake pals’ who borrowed from her.
After her win Camelot said: “Callie received extensive support from us which lasted many years. She didn’t take up the independent financial and legal advice offered by us. However, our winner’s team fully supported her and helped her to handle media interest.”
Callie Rogers from Cockermouth in Cumbria who won £1.8 million on the National Lottery in 2003 at the age of 16, becoming the second youngest jackpot winner.
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Sunday Mirror)
Callie Rogers when she won aged 16
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Michael Carroll, a self-styled ‘King of Chavs’, was 19 when he scooped £9,736,131 in November 2002. The part-time binman, who was wearing an electronic tag when he bought his winning ticket, immediately bought a £340,000 six-bedroom home in Norfolk. He spent a further £400,000 on lavish home upgrades and £49,000 on a BMW to park in his drive. He most notably invested £1m in Rangers FC shares.
Michael Carroll won a 9.7 million National Lottery jackpot
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Michael’s wife, Sandra, left him over his incessant party boy lifestyle and took £1.4m from the divorce settlement. By 2010, he had declared bankruptcy. The UK’s youngest winner of the EuroMillions said she “wouldn’t wish it on anyone” as she opened up about the pitfalls. Jane Park, of Edinburgh, was 17 when she scooped a £1 million jackpot in 2013, with the very first ticket she bought to enter the draw.
Norfolk Police picture released 23/3/2004 of 9.7 million National Lottery jackpot winner Michael Carroll after admitting possessing cocaine with a street value of more than 1,000.
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The EuroMillions is a pan-European lottery, which was launched in 2004 and has two separate draws every Tuesday and Friday. Jane spent thousands on cosmetic procedures and holidays. But in a 2023 interview with US talk show host Dr Phil, she admitted that she was not ready for fame. She said: “I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, at 17 you’re not even a proper adult, I was such a young naive 17-year-old as well.”