Young offender scoops £9.7m lottery jackpot

A young offender who has appeared in court "countless times" won £9.7m on the National Lottery after buying a ticket for the first time.

Michael Carroll bought two lucky dip tickets for the Lotto draw on "a whim" on Saturday.

Carroll, 19, from Downham Market near King's Lynn in Norfolk, appeared at a press conference in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire wearing an electronic tag underneath his trousers imposed for being drunk and disorderly.

He said: "I've lost count of the times I've been in court. I was like any normal teenager and made a few mistakes. But that's all changed, it won't happen again." He said his chequered past included a two-month sentence in a young offenders' institute for aggravated vehicle-taking when he was 18 years old. His current tagging order is scheduled to end on 4 December.

Yesterday he was celebrating the jackpot of £9,736,131 after one of his lucky dip tickets was the only one to match all six numbers 5, 28, 32, 39, 42, 48. He bought his ticket on the spur of the moment while shopping with his pregnant girlfriend Sandra Aiken, 19.

Ms Aiken is due to give birth on Christmas Day. The couple plan to get married but have yet to set a date. Carroll said he would not "spend, spend, spend" despite his win.