Australian tradie dies after winning $22 million Lotto in NZ and descending into drug underworld
First published on
Australian Josh Winslet was in NZ when he won big.
Photo:
Facebook/NZME
An Australian man who descended into a world of drugs after winning $22 million in Lotto Powerball while living in New Zealand has died.
Josh Winslet became an instant multi-millionaire after striking it rich with a winning Lotto ticket while living in the South Island in 2018.
However, his winnings soon attracted the wrong crowd and he slid into drug crime.
It culminated in a 2020 police raid in Australia and charges of supplying MDMA and possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition.
On Tuesday morning, the Daily Mail Australia reported Winslet died of health complications from excessive drug use.
In 2022, the Adelaide District Court heard how, after bagging his epic windfall, Winslet's parents managed his winnings through a trust fund.
However, he was still able to access enough of his fortune to allow him to quit working as a plumber and bankroll a "hopeless" drug addiction.
Winslet, who also purchased property in New Zealand with his winnings, was treated as a "free ride" by other drug users, the court heard.
Police raided his home in the Adelaide suburb of New Port on August 30, 2020 after they reportedly received information that drugs were being manufactured on the property.
Cops found 2.27g of cocaine and nearly 30g of MDMA.
In a compartment in the bathroom was a mauser handgun and ammunition.
Winslet pleaded guilty to supplying MDMA and possessing a firearm without a licence, the advertiser newspaper reported.
During sentencing in September 2022, Judge Heath Barklay stated that his conviction had robbed him of the drive for a productive life and brought him into contact with the wrong crowd.
The judge also detailed how Winslet had battled two rare conditions since birth.
The conditions led to physical abnormalities which saw Winslet bullied at school and unable to take part in contact sports.
He left school early before doing his plumbing apprenticeship and then shifted to New Zealand to look for further work.
Evidence of drug use was everywhere when police raided Winslet's house.
Photo:
Supplied/NZ Herald
Photos released by the court show the Adelaide house littered with drugs and drug paraphernalia, with empty beer bottles and nitrous oxide canisters sharing space with cannabis bongs and lighters.
A fridge photographed by police was empty save for alcohol, Red Bull - and a bowl of white powder.
The house was dirty, with rubbish and clothes lying around, floors marked and stained, and a framed photo of his winning online ticket a cruel reminder of what could have been.
This story originally appeared in the
New Zealand Herald
.
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