LONDON (AP) - A man who won the equivalent of almost $24 million Cdn in the British lottery was spared jail on a drug conviction Tuesday, but ordered to undergo a year of treatment and testing.
Michael Carroll, a longtime petty criminal dubbed the "lottery lout" in the British media since his 2002 win, made an obscene gesture to photographers after his sentencing at a courthouse in his hometown of Swaffham, in Norfolk, eastern England.
Carroll's lawyer, Neil Meachem, said the defendant used his lottery money to finance a drug habit that started after his marriage broke down and his estranged wife took their one-year-old daughter to Ireland. Carroll did not use drugs before he won the lottery, Meachem said.
Carroll pleaded guilty last month to possessing cocaine and marijuana, and a panel of judges warned him then that he might get jail time.
Magistrate Julia Richardson said they decided on the treatment and testing regimen instead and warned Carroll it would be difficult.
"You have not got a good record for complying with court orders, but you have to comply with this one," she said. "If you come back again, custody obviously will be on the agenda."
Carroll's long rap sheet includes brushes with the law both before and after his big win.
When he picked up his lottery cheque in November 2002, he was wearing a court-issued electronic tag imposed on him for a drunk and disorderly behaviour conviction.
He said then that he'd been in court "countless" times and was living on unemployment benefits after losing his job at a chocolate factory. He was fined about $30,000 Cdn for claiming the benefits, even though he had a job as a garbage collector.
