Woman curses lottery money after blowing it all

£1m was a curse - I wish I'd never had cash

Aug 31 2005
By The Evening Chronicle

Lotto loser Wendy Graham today told how she is penniless after blowing £1m ($1,802,621 USD) in a year-long drugs-fuelled party.

Tattooed Wendy, 26, was given the cash by her stepdad Bob Frazer who won a £14.2m jackpot in 2003.

The generous taxi driver, of, Heaton, Newcastle, gave his son and two stepchildren £1m each.

But instead of investing it, Wendy started on a year-long wild party.

Her behaviour turned her into a female version of original Lotto lout Michael Carroll, the binman who made a string of court appearances on drugs offences and made his neighbours' lives hell in Norfolk after winning his cash three years ago.

And Wendy even faces jail herself after attacking two women in a bar.

Most of Wendy's money went on drugs, booze and gambling - she told a national newspaper - and she paid £3,000 a time for nights of passion with high class male hookers.

Mum-of-one Wendy went out partying every day with boyfriend Richard Hill, 28.

She said: "We had a great time. Cocaine was my downfall. I had done drugs before, mostly cannabis and Ecstasy. I took some the first couple of days and it felt great. "The next day I took some more, all washed down with champagne. Best of all, it gave me the confidence to spend my money in the posh clothes shops which I had never dared to go into before.

"A typical day would be to give £50 to the babysitter to look after our son and then head out with Richard and other friends to the casino. We'd buy some cocaine, I'd take £3,000 out of the bank and we'd start partying.

"We'd head out early afternoon and still be hard at it at 6am. I'd be spending £240-a-day on drugs and £1,500-a-day on gambling.

"We would then stagger home after 6am, fall into bed, sleep for a couple of hours, get up and start all over again."

Before the win Wendy lived modestly in a council flat in Byker, Newcastle, and survived on benefits.

Her life changed one Sunday morning in April 2003 when Bob, married to Wendy's mum Dorothy, rang to say he'd won the jackpot. But the money only brought her grief and misery. She and Richard split up. She has been left penniless and in debt. She is £1,200 overdrawn and owes £15,000 on credit cards and loans.

The only good investment Wendy made was her three-bedroom home in Seaton Sluice, Northumberland, which she bought for £225,000 cash.

Wendy admits she continued her yobbish behaviour, despite becoming a millionaire. As a teenager she was twice jailed for mugging to buy drugs. At 14, armed with a kitchen knife, she threatened to cut a woman's ring off her finger.

She was convicted of attempted armed robbery and sentenced to two-and-a-half-years. At 17 she punched a female student and stole £9.40 cash and a telephone card. She has been told she is likely to be jailed again next month for attacking two women at a Whitley Bay bar.

Wendy realised she had to change her lifestyle when she was arrested for hitting her son last year.

She said: "Slowly but surely I gave up all that life and now I am completely off drugs. There's no money left but I wouldn't go back to the way I lived. It would be the death of me.

"I'm back to where I was really, living on benefits and trying to get by."

Today Wendy struggles on £43-a-week family tax credit and £17-a-week child benefit.

Wendy added: "£1m was far too much to handle. It was a curse. I wish I had never seen the money."

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