NOTORIOUS Lottery winner Mickey Carroll made a touching tribute to his beloved sister after an inquest found she died from a cocaine binge.
Mickey, 40, – who was nicknamed the “Lotto Lout” – told The Sun he wished he had been there to save his sister Zoe Carroll, 43, who was found slumped on the sofa by her two kids aged 14 and 17 after she’d taken the drug following her cousin’s funeral.
Mickey, who shot to fame after spending all of his £9.7 million in a few years, said: “There’s not a day goes by where I'm not thinking of her.
“She is like a breath of fresh air. She could light up any room she went in.
“We were like two peas in a pod like."
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He said that his sister had struggled after going through a two-year battle with cancer.
"She was in a lot of pain after all the radiation and everything," he said.
"I know she had to take morphine for a while. She was just in a lot of pain after everything she went through, and all the stress she went through. It was hard for her."
Norfolk Coroner’s Court heard how Zoe’s son and daughter had tried to resuscitate their mum before help arrived, but tragically she was pronounced dead at home.
A post mortem found Zoe, who had one kidney and had earlier battled cervical cancer had died of a cardiac arrest due to cocaine use.
The court heard how lines of cocaine were found on a chopping board in the kitchen, but her mum Kim McCleary stated that Zoe had been taking drugs to deal with the stresses of life.
She said: “She was stressed about many things. She was struggling to provide for her children, stressed about an upcoming operation and my cousin’s passing.”
She added: “Zoe was always there for other people. She would feed them and bed them down for the night. She was a nice girl and full of life.
“I didn’t know she was taking drugs. I knew she was upset by my cousin’s passing, but I didn’t realise they were having a party with drugs and alcohol with her so-called friends.”
Norfolk senior coroner Jacqueline Lake recorded a conclusion that the mum-of-four died of a drug related death.
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Grieving mum Kim said afterwards that Mickey had taken his sister's death hard.
She said: “Michael and Zoe were very close. They were like two peas in a pod. I speak to him every day. He is fine, but he has not taken her death very well.”
Mickey, from Elgin, Scotland, was just 19 and working as a bin man, when he won his £9,736,131 jackpot in November 2002.
He lived a wild lifestyle for a decade, splashing his cash on parties at his mansion in Norfolk, expensive gold chains and hundreds of holidays, gaining the nicknames “Lotto Lout” and “King of the Chavs”.
He burned through his fortune and in 2013 he declared himself bankrupt and was forced to sell his mansion and return to work.
Mickey's antics saw him make over 30 court appearances and serve three jail sentences for crimes such as affray, drug possession and dangerous driving - although he insists now he is a "law-abiding citizen".
Earlier this year, he told The Sun how when he realised he was down to his last few thousand, he threw a huge party for his pals.
"My accountant called me and told me I was down to about 250 grand," Mickey said.
"So I threw a party. I had big party in Spain, then came back and threw another party.
"We had a laugh, and then I just spent the rest.
"Why not, it's what you do isn't it.
"Easy come, easy go. Ten years of fun for a pound. You can't go wrong with that."
Since spending all his cash, Mickey has worked as a coal man, at a slaughterhouse and in a biscuit factory and is adamant that he enjoys working life better than partying.
"People at work can't understand why I'm so happy. People say, 'aren't you sad you lost all that money?' But I didn't lose it, I spent it,” he said.
"I never regret it. Even when I have to get up and go to work I don't think 'Oh I wish I was going partying now' because I had ten years of that.
"See with work I actually really enjoy it, I really do, I can't explain it. People say 'No you can't enjoy it better' but I do.”
However he did reveal how he still plays the lottery and would love to win again just to have the last laugh.
