Lotto lout's sister died after cocaine binge on day of cousin's funeral
The sister of Lotto lout Michael Carroll died after a cocaine binge with friends on the day of her cousin’s funeral, an inquest heard today.
Zoe Carroll, 43, whose brother famously blew his £9.7million fortune, was found slumped on her sofa by her 17-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter on May 4 this year. Norfolk Coroner’s Court heard how the two teenagers tried to resuscitate their mother before paramedics arrived, but she was pronounced dead in her home.
A post mortem found that Miss Carroll, who had one kidney and had earlier battled cervical cancer, had died of a cardiac arrest due to cocaine use. Norfolk senior coroner Jacqueline Lake recorded a conclusion that the mother-of-four died of a drug related death after hearing how lines of cocaine were found on a chopping board in her kitchen. Her mother Kim McCleary, who attended the hearing, said she believed she had been taking drugs due to stresses in her life, rather than for recreational reasons.
Miss Carroll’s brother Michael, 40, was a 19-year-old binman and wearing an electronic tag when he won his £9,736,131 jackpot in November, 2002. He was nicknamed Lotto Lout as he racked up a string of court appearances and splashed out on sex parties, drugs, prostitutes, fast cars and his trademark chunky gold jewellery. Carroll also reportedly gave away hundreds of thousands of pounds to family members, but it is not known what he gave to his sister Zoe.
Michael, a former refuse collector, won millions on the National Lottery in 2002 (PA Archive/PA Images)As his winnings drained away to nothing, he moved to Scotland for a fresh start in 2011, getting a job in a biscuit factory and then a slaughterhouse. It was revealed in 2019 how he had a job delivering coal and logs for £400-a-week and renting a flat in Elgin, Moray.
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Mrs McCleary said after the hearing: “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.”
In a statement read to the hearing, she said Miss Carroll liked to go to raves when she was a teenager, but she did not know if she used drugs at the time. She added that Miss Carroll had a string of medical problems and had repeated surgery to have a stent fitted to her one remaining kidney.
Her daughter had also been in remission from cervical cancer for five years before she died at her home in King’s Lynn, Norfolk. Mrs McCleary said her daughter had held a party for friends at her home on the day of the funeral of her cousin Michael Wells.
She added in her statement: “I was informed that they were drinking alcohol and taking cocaine. She had friends around to grieve and celebrate his life.” Mrs McCleary said she was telephoned by friends of her daughter the following afternoon, saying: “Get here now. Zoe is unresponsive.”
When she arrived, she found police and paramedics at the house. She added: “I was informed Zoe’s son was at the house and her daughter was asleep upstairs. They said they found their mother asleep on the sofa. “They touched her, and she didn’t respond so they did CPR and went to get help from neighbours. She was stressed about many things. She was struggling to provide for her children, stressed about an upcoming operation and my nephew’s passing.”
Michael was just 19 when he won the lottery (PA)Dr Dan Ketley, a doctor with the Magpas air ambulance which flew to the scene, said she was pronounced dead after 56 minutes of resuscitation attempts. He said a colleague had told him that a “white powder” had been found “divided into lines on a chopping board” in her kitchen. PC Sam Ward of Norfolk Police said medics at the house had told him that they did not know how long Miss Carroll had been not breathing before paramedics arrived.
The officer said in a statement: “Her family said she had been fine all day and had fallen asleep on the sofa at around 12pm. Later in the afternoon, it was realised that Zoe had slept through her alarm which was not normal. Checks were made and she unresponsive. There were small traces of white powder on her kitchen counter. CSI were requested to attend for medical examination and inquiries were conducted."
PC Ward was also told by a close friend of Miss Carroll that they did not think she would be using drugs due to her medical issues.
Coroner Ms Lake said in her concluding comments: “Zoe had fallen asleep on the sofa at around midday and slept through her alarm which was unusual. Emergency services were called and she was pronounced dead. There is evidence of drug use in the period before her death, and toxicology tests found use of cocaine.”
Ms Lake offered her sympathies to Mrs McCleary and other family members. Speaking after the hearing, Mrs McCleary said her daughter had been taking powerful painkillers to deal with her medical conditions.
Michael became known as the Lotto lout (PA)
Lotto winner Michael Carroll (PA)She described her daughter as a single mother who was unable to work due to the need to care for her youngest son who has autism. At the time of her death, she was also having to deal with a cut in her benefit payments due to two of her children leaving home. She added: “She was really stressed because she had no money coming in.”
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Mrs McCleary said she had her own medical issues which meant she had not seen her daughter for some time before her death, although they spoke daily on the phone. She said: “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.”
Michael Carroll’s wild lifestyle led to him being handed an ASBO for terrorising neighbours in Norfolk and he was twice jailed for drugs offences and affray after his massive win. At one stage, his hobby was smashing up dozens of second hand cars in demolition derbies staged in a field behind his home near Swaffham, Nortfolk.
The self-styled King of the Chavs was also hospitalised over binges which saw him spend £12,000 a week on drugs. Carroll also spent wildly on prostitutes and once claimed: “I’ve slept with over 4,000 women. I once slept with more than 20 in one day with a mate in Amsterdam."
He had got divorced from his wife Sandra Aitken in 2008 after she reportedly got fed up with him. The couple are said to have got back together and remarried in 2021 when reports suggested they were living in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Carroll claimed in recent years that frittering away his fortune had effectively saved his life by forcing him to give up cocaine and high living.
He once said: “It didn’t go wrong – it was the best 10 years of my life for £1. I don’t look back with any regrets, that’s for sure. I reckon I’m lucky to be alive. If I still had the money I’d probably be 6ft under."
Carroll’s uncle Stephen Muncaster, 47, had blasted wife Allison, 48, in the head with a shotgun before shooting himself in a suspected murder-suicide in 2016 at their home in Magdalen, Norfolk. Muncaster had previously been married to Carroll’s aunt Kelly who was looking after him at the time of his lottery win.
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