Double trouble for lottery winner

Redcar builder Vince Taylor went from rags to riches, and back again. Twice.

Vince Taylor won the lottery twice, but twice he spent his fortune and ended up broke again.

He blames his fall on greedy relatives and friends who he says milked a fortune from him.

And he also blames himself for ignoring the advice of lottery organiser Camelot's financial experts.

The dad of three told BBC Tees how he went from rags to riches after winning the £1.3million jackpot... and then another £120,000 four years later.

"It's made a mess of my life - and it could easily do the same to you. I sometimes wish I hadn't won." Says Vince.

It cost me £1 for the dream - but it has only bought me a nightmare I wouldn't wish on anyone. Vince Taylor

His lottery winnings saw him leave behind a two bed terrace, and take up a £470,000 mansion complete with stables and swimming pool. He did the school run in a Rolls Royce, and took his family around the world on luxury holidays before launching his own haulage company.

"I remember lying on the sofa with my lottery ticket watching my six numbers come up," he recalls.

"I was jumping around and was so excited I picked up the teapot instead of the phone by mistake when I tried to call Angela to tell her the good news. I thought it was the end of all my problems."

He ignored Camelot's advice and took off on a spending spree, like most of us would with money to burn. He bought a new home, treated his wife Angela to a £38,000 Jaguar and bought himself a £11,000 second-hand BMW.

However he wasn't selfish with his money, and shared his good fortune with friends and family to pay off their mortgages and help expand their businesses:

"I felt a great sense of urgency to help people who needed help," he says.

"You try to do the right thing but you just can't see that so many people you think are your friends are trying to take advantage of you and get a slice of your money.

"Unless you've been there you can't know what it's like."

It was at this point that Vince claimed a second win, this time with five numbers and the bonus ball. However this win was fast swallowed up by bad investments, and only two years later, debts began to creep in, leaving Vince worse off than when he started.

"It cost me £1 for the dream - but it has only bought me a nightmare I wouldn't wish on anyone. I'm penniless." says Vince.

Vince has now taken up a job in the building trade and his wife Angela works in a charity hospice, having been declared bankrupt after running up £50,000 credit card debts trying to keep the family afloat.

Vince says: "I'm heavily in debt and largely surviving on tax credits. My business is not doing very well.

"Angela and I are still together but it's been tough. I'm sure she feels bitter about what's happened. A lot of mistakes have been made.

"My message to anyone who wins the lottery is not to do what I did. Maybe I should have listened to the advice the National Lottery people and their solicitors and accountants gave me.

"You might think you know what you're doing with all that cash but you don't. It's so easy to get lost in the emotion of it all and throw money away."

Vince says he still doesn't know where half of his money went - but he knows who owes him money.

"I thought I could make a difference to their lives," he says. "Unfortunately, so many of them became greedy green-eyed monsters. They took my cash and never even said thanks.

"I'd do it all so differently if I had another chance."