Winning at Life? The Tragic Stories of Former UK Lottery Winners

The Tragic Stories of Former UK Lottery Winners

When we dream of a big lottery win, we only see the positives. An opulent lifestyle and riches beyond our wildest dreams, perhaps a huge house, many holidays to exotic locations, and making sure our family and friends are looked after and never want for anything.

But there’s another side to winning great amounts of money. For some, it brings untold sadness. There are some truly devastating stories of people who have had all their illusions of a wonderful, happy, and trouble-free life shattered for good.

Here we share two extraordinary tales of lottery players who won big, proving whilst winning a lot of money can be an amazing thing, there are always downsides that only become apparent once the money hits your bank account.

Here’s why 24Lottos is a popular lottery agent in the UK

The Multimillionaire Who Ended Up on The Dole

Pete Kyle, former UK lottery winner

How many people think that once they’ve won the lottery they’ll never ever struggle for cash again? This sorry tale might make anyone think again.

It surrounds Pete Kyle, a former Royal Artillery Gunner. Back in 2005, he won a staggering £5.1 million in a huge payout, but within three years he was flat broke, having squandered the lot.

Luck of the Draw…?

After his win, Peter recounted a tale of an encounter he’d had as a child with a Romany Gypsy who came to the family home, asking for money. Peter said that as he was one of fifteen children, they had nothing to give to the woman, but before she left she made a startling prediction about Peter’s future.

She told him he would meet someone, they would settle down, have two children, and later in life he would come into a very large sum of money.

On the day the winner was made public, Peter said at the press conference “It’s all come true. I met my wife, had two kids and now I’ve got a few bobs in the bank”.

The shock of The Win

After the shock of his big win had sunk in, Kyle claimed that his family wouldn’t want for anything ever again and that the money would “change their lives”. Although he and his wife had parted ways, he helped support her financially and bought her the car of her dreams.

His twenty-year-old daughter Gemma was the first person he told, and she admitted to feeling that she’d be set up for life and never have to worry about cash again. She’d hoped for a flat of her own and enough money to be able to go on holiday with her friends.

Holidays, Mansions, and Fun

Peter planned a trip of a lifetime for himself and his then eleven-year-old son, Roy, to Disney World in Florida, which would mean Roy could have a holiday, but Peter could indulge in his favorite pastime, fishing, something he’s been passionate about for many years.

He also spent £500,000 on a luxury mansion near his hometown, which he installed with a huge garage to fill with expensive cars, a snooker room, a bar, and plush furnishings throughout. More money was lavished on a fishing boat and top-of-the-range tackle so he could carry on his hobby in luxury.

The Fortune Vanishes…

Then, as suddenly as the money appeared, it vanished. It was reported that Kyle was frittering away up to £4600 per day, and from the fortune, he had amassed, he actually ended up accruing a huge debt instead.

Planning permission for the building work he’d undertaken hadn’t been granted, and on top of this he’d run up huge debts.

His luxury mansion was repossessed and Kyle had to move into a local hotel, taking on work as an odd job man to try to make ends meet.

The new owner of Kyle’s house is reportedly “sick” of opening the door to bailiffs.

But what happened to Peter Kyle?

He disappeared into thin air a few years ago, with reports he might be living in Spain, that are as yet, unconfirmed… no one really knows where he is to this day.

The £18 Million Win That Ended in Tragedy

Mukhtar Mohidin, former UK lottery winner

Our second story focuses on the man who, at the time, was the single biggest lottery prize winner the UK had ever seen.

Mukhtar Mohidin won £18 million, back in November 1994. The factory worker from Blackburn in Lancashire, aged forty-two at the time lived with his wife Sayeeda and their three children on a terrace near their places of work.

Mohidin wouldn’t have bought a lottery ticket at all, had it not been for a tenant who resided in a property he owned. Ismail Lorgat owed his landlord £46 for an electricity bill. Lorgat gave Mohidin £50 and told him to spend the remaining £4 on a lottery ticket, with the implicit understanding that if he won, they would split the winnings. Of course, Mohidin did win, but reneged on the deal and left Lorgat penniless. It’s from here on in the tale becomes sordid and woeful.

A Move to Pastures New

The Mohidins left Blackburn for a new life in the Home Counties, but cracks began to appear in their marriage. The couple split and his wife Sayeeda received £5 million in a settlement. She and her children faded pretty much into the distance after this though she is still living a good, trouble-free life with her share of the winnings.

A Change of Fortune, A Change of Personality

Mohidin, on the other hand, changed beyond all recognition. He began drinking heavily, gambling at casinos, and taking out escort girls. He changed his name to ‘Mike’ and pretended he was a wealthy investment banker, rather than someone who had just got lucky in the lottery.

Shunned by his family and community back home in Blackburn, he was castigated by the Imam at his former mosque, for louche behavior. When Mohidin offered a generous donation of his winnings, the Imam refused to take it, despite the mosque being in desperate need of repairs.

During his time courting escort girls, he met Charlotte Doyle, an Anglo-Indian escort who was then twenty-four. They began an intense but destructive relationship that saw her bear him a daughter, to whom he denied responsibility. A DNA test showed otherwise and although he was legally obliged to pay her £40,000 per annum in maintenance, never did so.

Doyle spoke of her relationship with Mohidin, saying it became violent and abusive. He once threatened to kill her saying he could find someone to do it for £100,000.

When the couple finally split up in 2002, Doyle never saw him again, but the end of the tale gets sadder and stranger.

A Strange End

Mohidin was the last known of living in a £35 a night bed-and-breakfast hotel in the seaside town of Blackpool. Torn between living a life of piety and frugality, and needing the adrenaline rush the money had given him, he succumbed to longstanding health problems brought about by “good living” and died aged 64 earlier this year.

These two sad tales really do go to show that money cannot buy you happiness!

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