Quiz major denies row with wife

Quiz major denies row with wife

The Ingrams deny the charges

The man accused of cheating to win the £1m prize on Who Wants to be a Millionaire? has denied claims he argued with his wife after the show.

Major Charles Ingram, 39, told Southwark Crown Court in London that suggestions his wife had accused him in the dressing room of "being a bit too obvious" were "definitely wrong".

Mr Ingram is accused of winning the top prize by listening to a series of "coded coughs" from fellow contestant, college lecturer Tecwen Whittock.

The Army major, his wife Diana, 38, and Mr Whittock, a college lecturer, deny conspiracy to dishonestly procure the execution of a valuable security, namely the quiz show's jackpot.

I have never used a pager in my life

Charles Ingram

Major's 'ordeal' - click here for more

Mr Ingram said witnesses who said his wife was "pale and shaky" following the win were "mistaken" and that they were just "like any other million pound winners".

But prosecution barrister Nicholas Hilliard asked again: "Was she angry with you by wondering whether you had made it all a bit too obvious?"

Mr Ingram replied "no".

The prosecution alleged Mr Ingram was led to the correct answers by a series of coughs.

Suspicions led production company Celador to contact the police and withhold the £1m jackpot.

Mr Whittock blamed coughing on allergies

The prosecution also alleges the three accused had considered using four pagers to get the answers to Mr Ingram.

Asked who had sent a number of numeric pager messages the evening before he went on the show, Mr Ingram said it must have been his wife.

"I have never used a pager in my life," he said.

He also strenuously denied that he had been practising a dishonest scheme to win the £1m.

Mr Ingram contended that he had never met Mr Whittock before their appearance on Who Wants to be a Millionaire.

While Mr Whittock has admitted he was coughing during filming he blamed allergies and said he was not the only person in the audience making a noise.

Accusation

The prosecution suggested that the major had "dishonestly deceived Mr Tarrant into signing the cheque".

But Mr Ingram told the court: "That is not true. I would not deceive him or anyone else in that manner, or any manner, come to that."

He added, in response to further questioning, that he was not trying to "deceive the jury".

"No, I am not. I am telling the truth," he said.

'Utmost integrity'

The major's former commanding officer in Bosnia, Colonel Michael Paul Carter, later told the court his views on the Mr Ingram.

He described the major as a "good friend".

"I consider him to be an officer of the utmost integrity and complete honesty," he said.

A close friend of Mrs Ingram, former boarding school room-mate Sophie Athanasiadis, said she would trust the mother-of-three "with anything, whether it was moral, financial, whatever the situation".

She added that Mrs Ingram, who is expected to go into the witness box at the beginning of next week, was a "completely straightforward person, very, very honest".

"I can say without a shadow of doubt that there is no wiliness, no deceit, in her," she said.

The trial was adjourned until Monday.