Millionaire cheat plans appeal

Whittock says he is innocent

A former college lecturer found guilty of cheating on TV quiz show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? is planning an appeal against his conviction.

Tecwen Whittock, 53, was found guilty by a jury at London's Southwark Crown Court of using coughs to lead Major Charles Ingram to the correct answers on the ITV1 quiz.

Whittock, of Whitchurch, Cardiff, Ingram,and Ingram's wife Diana were found guilty of conspiring to cheat the show by a jury at and were given suspended prison sentences.

A documentary, Millionaire: A Major Fraud, which is due to be shown at 2100 GMT on Monday, will include footage from the episode in which Ingram won £1m.

If you look at my record on quiz shows, you wouldn't want to rely on me to cough the answer on half a million pounds because I would probably get it wrong Tecwen Whittock

The three convicted cheats have continued to protest their innocence, despite their convictions, and Whittock claims the ITV documentary will paint an unfair picture of events.

He has also insisted that he was not motivated by greed and denied newspaper claims that he was in debt.

Whittock said: "My QC is at the moment looking at the legal aspects of an appeal.

"If he tells me that we've got a legal point to an appeal, then I would certainly want to appeal.

"The only thing that could possibly stop me is whether the costs of appealing could be too much.

Major Charles Ingram and his wife Diana were also convicted

"I'm not a greedy person - there's no financial motive there and the evidence backs me up.

"I am innocent. I would say to people if you look at the evidence closely then you will agree with me.

"I've been stitched up by the evidence given to the court.

"There were coughs on wrong answers as well as right answers and there are coughs at insignificant points.

"Where Major Ingram says key points and you expect coughs, there are none."

Poor record

Whittock also claimed that he was unlikely to have been approached to take part in a conspiracy because of his previous poor record in TV quiz shows.

He said: "I've been on a few quizzes but I haven't done very well.

"(I've been on) Fifteen to One, Brain of Britain and Sale of the Century, where I won the booby prize.

"If you look at my record on quiz shows, you wouldn't want to rely on me to cough the answer on half a million pounds because I would probably get it wrong."

Whittock added that the trial and subsequent conviction had placed a strain on his wife and four children.

'Strain'

His youngest son dropped out of a degree course at Cardiff University due to stress caused by the case.

Whittock said: "It's a strain for the whole family.

"You sit down and wonder, why did this happen?"

Following the court case, Whittock was given a suspended 12-month sentence, fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £7,500 costs.

The Ingrams, both 39, were each given an 18-month jail sentence suspended for two years.

The trio had denied a charge of procuring the execution of a valuable security by deception - £1m on 10 September 2001.

During the trial, the court heard how another contestant and members of the television crew were made suspicious by Whittock's coughing outbreak.

The ITV documentary will show the full episode of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? during which Whittock is heard coughing at key moments.

Last week Whittock resigned from his job as head of business studies at Pontypridd College.