plasterer pete

In 2002 a 19-year-old binman won £9.7 million in the UK lottery, about $15 million at the time. He was wearing an electronic tag when he picked up the check. By 2010 it was all gone, and he says he is happier now. It was the first time he had ever played. A £1 ticket. He already had a string of convictions. One bank refused to even open an account for him. He gave £1 million each to his mother, his aunt and his sister. Then came the rest. A mansion. A Range Rover, BMWs, three Mitsubishi Evos. A racetrack behind his house where he and his friends smashed up cars, which drove the neighbors to despair. £1 million into Rangers, his football club. £150,000 in gold. By his own count, £2,000 a day on cocaine. About £1,000 a day on prostitutes. The papers called him the Lotto Lout. In 2006 he went to jail for nine months. A reporter asked if he ever wished he was just a binman again, with nobody knowing who he was. "Some days, yeah." By 2010 the money was gone. He went back and asked for his old job collecting trash. Today he hauls bags of coal in Scotland for about £10 an hour, seven days a week. "It was 10 years of fun for a pound," he said. "I'm happier because I've got my life back." His name is Michael Carroll. He says losing it all made him happier. Do you believe him? Yes or no.