'Lotto lout' vows to go straight

Michael Carroll plans to buy a Ford Orion

A young offender who won almost £10m on the national lottery while electronically tagged has pledged never to get into trouble again.

Michael Carroll, 19, a dustman from Downham Market, Norfolk, was dubbed the "Lotto lout" by tabloid newspapers and severely criticised for his criminal past.

He was tagged for being drunk and disorderly, and has a criminal record including a four-month sentence for aggravated vehicle-taking, driving whilst disqualified and criminal damage.

He said the multi-million prize had given him the chance to start afresh.

Difficult patch

"It is true I have been a bad lad but I am not public enemy number one," he admitted.

"I have done bad things but I have owned up and faced up to them.

What teenager hasn't made a few mistakes in their life?

Michael Carroll

"I went through a really bad phase of my life and people have just latched onto that. I am not making excuses but I fell in with a bad crowd and life got pretty grim."

Carroll, whose 19-year-old girlfriend Sandra Aiken is expecting their child on Christmas Day, revealed that a troubled home life led him to a downward spiral into crime.

His father, who split from his mother, Kim, died young and Carroll did not get on with her new boyfriend.

A row led to him sleeping rough for several months, he claimed, including once in a crashed car that was nearly crushed at a scrap yard with him in it.

" I am a 19-year-old who went through a bad patch. What teenager hasn't made a few mistakes in their life?"

He has vowed not to waste his new-found wealth, listing only a Ford Orion and a house for his children at the top of his shopping list.