Diana and Charles Ingram.

Charles Ingram (born August 6, 1963) is a former British Army Major who made headlines in the United Kingdom when he was accused of cheating on the television show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?. Despite being convicted of deception, Ingram maintains that he did not cheat. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2048x2912, 596 KB) Summary Made by ourselves, Charles and Diana Ingram Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2048x2912, 596 KB) Summary Made by ourselves, Charles and Diana Ingram Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... August 6 is the 218th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (219th in leap years), with 147 days remaining. ... Year 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. ... Major is a military rank the use of which varies according to country. ... Cheating is defined as an act of lying, deception, fraud, trickery, imposture, or imposition. ... Television series redirects here. ... In the United Kingdom, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is a television game show which offers a maximum cash prize of one million pounds for correctly answering successive multiple-choice questions of increasing difficulty. ... For the purposes of English law, deception is defined in s15(4) Theft Act 1968 and applies to the deception offences in the Theft Act 1968, and to the Theft Act 1978 and the Theft (Amendment) Act 1996. ...

Education and Army career

Ingram is a BSc Civil Engineering graduate from Kingston Polytechnic, a MSc Corporate Management graduate from Cranfield University, Chartered Member of the Institute of Personnel and Development, Member of the Chartered Management Institute, Member of The Society of Authors, and member of Mensa. In 1986 he trained for the Army at Sandhurst and was commissioned as an officer in the Royal Engineers. Ingram was promoted to the rank of Major in 1995, and in 1999 he served in Bosnia for six months on NATO peacekeeping duties. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Falkirk Wheel in Scotland. ... An alumnus (masculine) or alumna (feminine) of a college, university, or school is a former student. ... Kingston University is a university in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, south-west London. ... A masters degree is an academic degree usually awarded for completion of a postgraduate course of one or two years in duration. ... Look up Management in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... An alumnus (masculine) or alumna (feminine) of a college, university, or school is a former student. ... Cranfield University is an English University based on three campuses at Shrivenham, in Oxfordshire, and Cranfield and Silsoe in Bedfordshire. ... The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) is the leading professional body for those involved in the field of personnel, training and development. ... The Chartered Management Institute is a professional institution for managers, based in the United Kingdom. ... The Society of Authors (UK) is a trade union for professional writers that was founded in 1884 to protect the rights of writers and fight to retain those rights (with particular attention to copyright protection and, later, the establishment of Public Lending Right). ... Mensa is the largest[citation needed], oldest[citation needed], and best-known[citation needed] high-IQ society [citation needed] in the world. ... Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ... The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. ... New College, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst New Colours are presented to RMAS, June 2005. ... An officer is a member of a military, naval, or if applicable, other uniformed services who holds a position of responsibility. ... The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army. ... A promotion is the advancement of rank or position in an organizational hierarchy system. ... rank. ... Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full 1995 Gregorian calendar). ... Motto none Anthem Intermeco Bosnia and Herzegovina() on the European continent()  —  [] Capital (and largest city) Sarajevo Official languages Bosnian Croatian Serbian Government Parliamentary democracy  -  Presidency members NebojÅ¡a Radmanović1 Haris Silajdžić2 Željko KomÅ¡ić3  -  Chairman of the Council of Ministers Nikola Å pirić  -  High Representative 4 Independence... NATO 2002 Summit in Prague. ...

The Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Affair

The ITV1 programme was produced by Celador at Elstree Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire. The show, hosted by Chris Tarrant, was recorded on 9 & 10 September 2001. Ingram won the £1,000,000 prize but the payout was suspended when he was accused of cheating by having an accomplice cough when he read out the correct answers. Following a trial at Southwark Crown Court lasting seven weeks including jury deliberation for three-and-a-half days which ended soon after a jury member was evicted for discussing the case in public, Charles Ingram, his wife Diana Ingram and Tecwen Whittock were convicted by a majority verdict of 'procuring the execution of a valuable security by deception' on 7 April 2003. ITV1 is the name, in England, Wales and the Scottish borders, for a terrestrial, free-to-air television channel, broadcast in the United Kingdom by the ITV network. ... Celador is an independent production company formed in 1983. ... Historically, the name Elstree Studios refers to any of several film studios that were based in the town of Elstree and Borehamwood in Hertfordshire, England. ... For the village in Essex, see Boreham. ... Hertfordshire (pronounced Hartfordshire and abbreviated as Herts) is an inland county in the United Kingdom and part of the East of England Government Office region. ... Christopher John Tarrant OBE (born 10 October 1946, Reading, Berkshire) is an English radio broadcaster and television presenter, now best known for hosting the TV game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. // Tarrant was educated at the Kings School, Worcester (1960-4) where he excelled at cricket and... September 9 is the 252nd day of the year (253rd in leap years). ... September 10 is the 253rd day of the Gregorian calendar (254th in leap years). ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A prize is an award given to a person or a group of people to recognise and reward actions or achievements. ... At law, an accomplice is a person who actively participates in the commission of a crime, even though they take no part in the actual criminal offence. ... In legal parlance, a trial is an event in which parties to a dispute present information (in the form of evidence) in a formal setting, usually a court, before a judge, jury, or other designated finder of fact, in order to achieve a resolution to their dispute. ... The Borough or Southwark is an area of the London Borough of Southwark situated 1. ... Crown Court and County Court in Oxford. ... Charles Ingram is an ex-British Army Major who made headlines in the United Kingdom by being accused of cheating on the television show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. Despite later being convicted of conspiracy and deception, Ingram maintains he did not cheat. ... Charles and Diana Ingram. ... April 7 is the 97th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (98th in leap years). ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

On the day of the verdict, the Ingrams were each given 18-month prison sentences suspended for two years, each fined £15,000, and each ordered to pay £10,000 towards prosecution costs. Within two months of the verdict and sentence, the trial judge ordered the Ingrams to pay additional defense costs orders, Charles £40,000 and Diana £25,000. In law, a sentence forms the final act of a judge-ruled process, and also the symbolic principal act connected to his function. ... A suspended sentence is a legal construct. ... FINE was created in 1998 and is an informal association of the four main Fair Trade networks: F Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO) I International Fair Trade Association (IFAT) N Network of European Worldshops (NEWS!) and E European Fair Trade Association (EFTA) // The aim of FINE is to enable these...

The Army Board invited Major Ingram to resign his commission. He retired on 19 August 2003 with his state-earned pension of seventeen years. August 19 is the 231st day of the year (232nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

On 19 May 2004 the Court of Appeal denied Ingram leave to appeal against his conviction and upheld his sentence. The same court quashed his wife's fine and prosecution costs. On 5 October 2004 the House of Lords denied Ingram his leave to appeal against his fine and prosecution costs, and he appealed to the European Court of Human Rights. On 20 October 2004 the original trial judge reduced Ingram's defense costs order to £20,000 and Diana Ingram's defense costs order to £5,000. On 21 May 2005 Ingram appealed against his conviction to the Criminal Cases Review Commission. The CCRC completed its review in Autumn 2006 concluding that 'there was insufficient prospect of overturning the conviction'. May 19 is the 139th day of the year (140th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... shelby was here 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 278th day of the year (279th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... shelby was here 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... European Court of Human Rights building in Strasbourg The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), often referred to informally as the Strasbourg Court, was created to systematise the hearing of human rights complaints against States Parties to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, adopted by... October 20 is the 293rd day of the year (294th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... shelby was here 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... May 21 is the 141st day of the year (142nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Cover of Charles Ingram's novel The Network.

Charles Ingram declared bankruptcy on 25 November 2004 and was discharged on 25 November 2005. Diana Ingram declared bankruptcy on 11 November 2005 and was discharged on 10 July 2006. Charles Ingram is now a novelist and his first thriller, The Network, was published on 27 April 2006. His second thriller, Deep Siege, is published in September 2007. Image File history File linksMetadata Thenetwork25. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Thenetwork25. ... Notice of closure stuck on the door of a computer store the day after its parent company, Granville Technology Group Ltd, declared bankruptcy (strictly, put into administration - see text) in the UK. Bankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability of an individual or organizations to pay their... is the 329th day of the year (330th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... shelby was here 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 329th day of the year (330th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Notice of closure stuck on the door of a computer store the day after its parent company, Granville Technology Group Ltd, declared bankruptcy (strictly, put into administration - see text) in the UK. Bankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability of an individual or organizations to pay their... November 11 is the 315th day of the year (316th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 50 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 191st day of the year (192nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... April 27 is the 117th day of the year (118th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 248 days remaining. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ...

An essay [1] written by James Plaskett in favour of the innocence of Charles Ingram, his wife, and Whittock led to the journalist Bob Woffinden, who had a long time interest in miscarriages of justice, publishing a two-page article in the 9 October 2004 edition of the British newspaper the Daily Mail, entitled 'Is The Coughing Major Innocent?' H. James Plaskett (born Cyprus, March 18, 1960) was British Chess Champion in 1990, awarded the International Grandmaster title in 1985, and is also a writer, sometime explorer and campaigner for justice. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... Bob Woffinden is a veteran British investigative journalist and the author of several books. ... A miscarriage of justice is primarily the conviction and punishment of a person for a crime that he did not commit. ... October 9 is the 282nd day of the year (283rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... shelby was here 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Daily Mail is a British tabloid newspaper first published in 1896. ...

The Evidence

The Tapes

A description of the video tape played in court is at [2]. In court Ingram claimed the video tape was 'unrepresentative of what I heard', indeed he continues to assert that it was 'unfairly manipulated'. He claims that he neither listened for, encouraged, nor noticed any coughing. The prosecution alleged that of the 192 coughs recorded during his second-night performance, 32 were recorded from the ten Fastest Finger First contestants and that 19 of the 32 coughs clearly heard on the video tape recorded louder than both Ingram's and Tarrant's voices, were 'significant'. Tarrant also denied hearing any coughing, claiming he was too busy to notice.[3]

Graham (aka Larry aka Horace) Whitehurst

Whitehurst, another contestant who has appeared on the show as a Fastest Finger First contestant on four occasions, contacted Celador a week after the show, to share with them his concerns about Ingram's peculiar performance. Celador told him they were already investigating concerns about cheating, and that they were considering the possibility of coughing as a source of assistance. Whitehurst told Celador he saw Whittock coughing. Celador's MD, Paul Smith, advised Whitehurst to contact the police if he had concerns. Instead, Whitehurst contacted The Sun newspaper. Three days later, after The Sun had printed the exclusive about the allegation, Whitehurst, who had by now approached the police as 'Horace' via email, spoke to them for the first time. Graham [aka Larry] Whitehurst told police during interview that he saw another contestant, Whittock, cough once during the last question and that he thought it might have helped Ingram. He also said that what he saw could have been a 'complete coincidence'.

Over the next eighteen months, it transpired that Whitehurst had met face-to-face with Celador on at least four separate occasions between September 2001 and the trial in March 2003, including on one occasion with their solicitors. In court, Whitehurst was adamant that he had known the answers to Ingram's questions, and that he had been able to anticipate coughing from an early stage on the night, and that he was entirely convinced coughing had helped Ingram. It seems strange that Whitehurst did not immediately mention the cheating that evening in the studio, bar, or elsewhere, for he described himself in court as 'extremely angry'. It also seems strange that, when 'watching Mr Whittock intently from early on', as he described his focus during the recording on Whittock in court, he did not notice Whittock say 'No' on 'Berlin' or see him cough more than once during the £1M question when five of nineteen 'significant coughs' were alleged by the prosecutor to have been made by Whittock.

Tecwen Whittock

Whittock has suffered from a persistent cough for his entire life [4]. This could either explain his coughs during the show or be a cover for cough signals.

Whittock had insisted he had had a genuine cough caused by a combination of hay fever and a dust allergy. It was nothing more than 'coincidence' if his throat problem had coincided with the right answer. He also insisted that he had not known the answers to three of the questions he allegedly helped with. Police, however, found the answer to one of them in a hand-written general knowledge book at his home, along with the answer to another question he said he had not known but was not said to have helped with [5].

Davis, the floor manager, said that as soon as the coughing came to his notice during the recording he decided to find out who was responsible. 'The loudest coughing was coming from Tecwen in seat number three', he claimed. 'He was talking to the person to his left when I was observing him, and then he turned towards the set and the hot seat to cough.' Whittock said in court that 'you do not cough into someone's face' [6]. Despite searching for any form of assistance during the recording Davis did not notice the word 'no' or deduce that coughing was assisting Ingram.

Around the time of the trial Whittock intimated he could hardly have been any help to Ingram because he was a 'serial quiz show loser' [7] implying that if Ingram was going to cheat he would have teamed-up with someone much more likely to be of assistance. It was reported that during the trial that he 'portrayed himself ... as a serial quiz show failure ... (who) said his performance on a number of TV and radio programmes had been less than dazzling.' [8] However, Whittock twice won the Wales heat of Brain of Britain (on BBC Radio 4) and in one semi-final was only narrowly beaten into runner-up spot by quiz legend Daphne Fowler. Brain of Britain is a BBC radio general knowledge quiz, broadcast on BBC Radio 4. ... Daphne Fowler is a British retired bank clerk and game show champion. ...

After The Show

Tarrant, who drank champagne with the Ingrams in their dressing room, said he was convinced the major was genuine when he signed the £1 million cheque. 'If I thought there was anything wrong, I certainly would not have signed it.' When asked whether the atmosphere in the dressing room was tense after the show as had been alleged by an employee, Ms Winstanley, Tarrant replied: 'No, not at all. They seemed as normal as people who have just won a million pounds would be in the situation'.

Celador employees produced and reviewed various compilation tapes, before and after contacting the police. Celador and their editing company, Editworks, retained all the tapes during the case and reproduced all tapes for court.

In court, Smith confirmed that his company had previously produced a television programme involving witnesses about the case, for broadcast on ITV after the trial. This was subsequently broadcast on ITV1 a month after the trial as 'Tonight With Trevor MacDonald - Major Fraud', which was credited with over 17 million viewers. Two weeks later the same programme broadcast another show entitled 'Final Act', which was credited with over 5 million viewers. ITV1 is the name, in England, Wales and the Scottish borders, for a terrestrial, free-to-air television channel, broadcast in the United Kingdom by the ITV network. ...

Summing Up

The trial judge summed up the case by stating to the jury that the tapes and Mr Whitehurst were the two pieces of 'direct evidence' before describing the act as a 'schoolboy prank'.

Other details

Ingram said his discursive and apparently indecisive manner when answering questions was due to nervousness and for effect. 'There was a degree of wishing to be good on television and be a bit dramatic. What I said, thinking out loud, and what I actually meant were not the same thing. It was a very stressful period.'

The producer and decision-maker on the night, David Briggs, maintained a low profile throughout the case and did not testify in court. Almost all Celador employees present on the night, who made up most of the prosecution witnesses, said they became suspicious early on during the second night as Ingram's performance on the first night had confirmed their pre-show beliefs that he was unintelligent and would not last long. In court, Tarrant described him as 'Tim, nice but dim'. To refute the allegations, Ingram took an invigilated IQ test shortly before the trial, and was found to have an IQ that lies within the top two per cent of the population (it allowed him to join Mensa). Ingram, who is highly qualified, has repeatedly suggested that success on the show is more about knowledge than intelligence. Mensa is the largest[citation needed], oldest[citation needed], and best-known[citation needed] high-IQ society [citation needed] in the world. ...

It was suggested in the media that Ingram took a considerable amount of time on the second night - on one question 'half an hour' - to answer each of the questions. Such was the rumour-mill, The Sun reported he had been in the hot seat for three hours on the second night. The Special Enquiry Team of New Scotland Yard were reportedly keen to learn whether this may have been a delaying tactic to allow someone outside the studio to look up the questions on a computer or the internet, before sending a text message to a mobile phone held by an audience member. The audience member would then cough corresponding to one of the four options. Look up sun in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Alternative meanings: Scotland Yard (band), Scotland Yard board game New Scotland Yard, London New Scotland Yard, often referred to as simply Scotland Yard or The Yard, is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service, responsible for policing Greater London (although not the City of London itself). ...

In fact, and including any delay caused by the host who does much of the talking and controls the quiz, the time between the questions given (flashed-up on screen) and answers accepted (green light highlighting correct answer) on the night alledged cheating took place were as follows:

• Q8. 1 minute 1 second.
• Q9. 48 seconds.
• Q10. 4 minutes 11 seconds (Used 50:50 lifeline).
• Q11. 2 minutes 6 seconds.
• Q12. 1 minute 47 seconds.
• Q13. 1 minute 4 seconds.
• Q14. 4 minutes 6 seconds.
• Q15. 5 minutes 21 seconds.

A subjective analysis of the uncut recording broadcast on ITV2 shows that of the above time, Ingram was responsible for considerably less than ten minutes. On the first night Ingram played, an earlier contestant took 24 minutes on one answer [9]. ITV2 is a free-to-air entertainment television channel in the United Kingdom owned by ITV plc. ...

Celador had been concerned about the possibility of someone cheating all the way to the top prize, and introduced elaborate security measures. During recording, one camera was permanently trained on the contestants' faces to check that they didn't look away for signals from the audience. Another camera watched friends or relatives in the audience to ensure they were not sending signals. As an additional precaution, players were always positioned with their backs to any supporters in the audience. [10]

Assault conviction

On 11 April 2007 Ingram was convicted of assaulting a 13 year old youth who deliberately coughed into his face as he ran past while out jogging. Ingram was sentenced with an Absolute Discharge after the youth admitted under cross-examination by Ingram's solicitor that the cough was disgusting and that Ingram did not, as he had originally told the police and earlier testified in court, 'shove him against a wall'. The court heard how Ingram had grabbed the threatening youth by his lapels and said, 'That was disgusting. If you do that again you will be in trouble. Do you understand?' [11] is the 101st day of the year (102nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... In Canadian law, an absolute discharge is a sentence that carries no penalty nor conditions and leaves no criminal record. ...

External links

• The Official Website of Charles Ingram
• The Official Website of Diana Ingram
• UKGameshows.com: Ingrams Millionaire Trial
• Essay at Portia.org
• Essay at Justjustice.org