'65.9 Billion Won' Youngest UK Lotto Winner... Imprisoned for 'Gwangran-ui Jilju'

Photo by Asia Economy DB

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Eun-young] A young man in the UK who became famous for winning a 65.9 billion won lottery at the youngest age has stood trial on murder charges just seven years later.

On the 14th, foreign media reported that Matt Topham (31), the youngest 'Super Lotto' winner in the UK, appeared in court on the 12th (local time) on charges of causing the death of a 75-year-old grandmother while recklessly driving his BMW passenger car last Christmas.

He made headlines in 2012 as the youngest winner of the 'Super Lotto' with 45 million pounds (approximately 65.9 billion won) at the age of 23. On the day of the accident, he was visiting relatives in Lincolnshire, eastern England, and on his way home, he violently collided with a Ford vehicle carrying an elderly couple.

As a result of the accident, grandmother Mary Jane Regler (75) died, and her husband Rodney Regler (78) was seriously injured.

Topham is known as a racing enthusiast who owns several supercars, including Aston Martins, and drives them himself. It was revealed that he did not stop racing even while police investigations were ongoing after the accident, sparking public outrage online.

Originally working in construction, he also participated in the 'Donnington GT Cup Championship' racing event this August and won an Aston Martin worth 240,000 pounds (approximately 300 million won) as a prize.

In addition to supercars, he owns a private helicopter and reportedly has a hangar at his mansion in Lincolnshire, eastern England.

Last summer, he used his lottery winnings to purchase a petting zoo including raccoons and llamas for 600,000 pounds (670 million won) as a gift for his mother-in-law, and also bought houses for his sister-in-law and brother-in-law.

His father, a former doctor, reportedly paid off all his mortgage loans after his son's lottery win and has been driving supercars such as Porsche and Aston Martin without a special job.

Meanwhile, at the time of his 2012 win, he was introduced as a sincere young man who valued 'friendship over money,' making this fatal accident even more controversial.

At that time, he married a friend of the same age after winning and made headlines for generously giving 1.3 million pounds (approximately 2.3 billion won) to a close friend of 20 years.

He said, "I will use the winnings to pay off my father's loans and help my siblings," and added, "Even after winning the lottery, I have been steadily working as a painter earning 100 pounds a day, and the house I currently live in has only three small rooms."

Topham was indicted in September and appeared in court via video. Regler is scheduled to appear in court on December 18, and the trial will continue until March next year. Since the accident, Topham's racing website was completely deleted last month.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.