Man in court on millionaire quiz show charges
A British army major arrived at court today to stand trial accused of cheating to win the jackpot prize in TV’s Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
Charles Ingram, wearing a charcoal suit, white shirt and gold tie, was due to appear in the dock at Southwark Crown Court with his wife, who arrived with him, and a college lecturer.
They are all accused of tricking game show host Chris Tarrant into signing the £1m (€1.46m) cheque.
Ingram, 39, and his nursery nurse wife Diana, 38, of High Street, Easterton, Wiltshire, and Tecwen Whittock, 52, who lives at Heol-y-Gors, Whitchurch, Cardiff, and is head of business studies at Pontypridd College, south Wales, each deny two charges.
Mrs Ingram arrived wearing a black two-piece suit and a pink shawl.
The first charge against the Ingrams and Whittock alleges they conspired to procure the execution of a valuable security.
It states that between January 1 and September 11, 2001, they “conspired together and with others with a view to gain for themselves or with intent to cause loss to another, dishonestly to procure Christopher Tarrant to sign a cheque by deception, namely by falsely representing that Charles Ingram did not receive any assistance when answering questions on the television show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?”.
The second count alleges that they simply procured a valuable security by deception on September 10 that year, and contains similar wording.
Nicholas Hilliard, prosecuting, was not expected to start outlining the case against the three defendants until late this morning.
The trial, before Judge Geoffrey Rivlin QC, is due to last four weeks.
