A MARRIED Coventry couple have scooped £1million on the lottery.
William (57) and Catherinette (56) Mullarkey – known as Bill and Cath – landing a life-changing £1million EuroMillions Millionaire Maker prize in the draw on Tuesday 4.
Both chefs, they are now cooking up plans for a luxury retirement.
They met 25 years ago when Bill was working as a chef at a luxury hotel in Cath’s native St Lucia.
The couple now plan to give up work and split their time between Coventry and the Caribbean after the “mind-blowing” win.
Bill, who plays both EuroMillions and Lotto online each week, described the windfall as a ‘dream come true’.
He said: “It is completely life-changing and what I can’t get my head around is that we’re now debt-free. We can clear the mortgage. I have to keep pinching myself!”
The couple work for Compass Group catering for office staff at the Sainsbury’s Call Centre in Coventy.
They also plan to use the win to help family including Cath’s four children and 11 grandchildren.
They want to use some of the money to help Cath’s 26-year-old nephew, Messiah, who has been left paralysed from the waist down after a horrific bike accident in St Lucia a couple of months ago.
Bill and Cath were on the island visiting him at the time of the draw but couldn’t
check their National Lottery account overseas.
He added: “We couldn’t believe it when we saw a message come up to say ‘Congratulations, you’re a winner!’ and couldn’t take in the figure that came up on the screen. We weren’t sure if it was £10,000 or £100,000 at first.
“When I called the National Lottery hotline on Wednesday to confirm the win there
was a long silence and finally I was told I had won a million pounds.
“At that moment there was such excitement in the house and lots of screaming. We celebrated with a nice cup of tea and I didn’t sleep all night, it just wouldn’t sink in.”
Bill bought his winning EuroMillions ticket online at national-lottery.co.uk
