Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? cheat Charles Ingram appeals conviction as Chris Tarrant says he DID break rules
SHAMED Major Charles Ingram is to appeal his conviction for cheating on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, his lawyers have revealed.
The news comes as host Chris Tarrant spoke ahead of a new TV drama about the high-profile scandal to insist the former army man did scam the hit show.
ITV1 drama 'Quiz' will tell how Ingram won the show’s £1million prize in the 2001 coughing scandal, before he and cohorts were prosecuted.
Now Ingram's legal team - fronted by defence solicitor Rhona Friedman - have revealed he and wife Diana are to appeal their conviction for Procuring the Execution of a Valuable Security by Deception.
Lawyers for the Ingrams - who were convicted alongside Tecwen Whittock - are working to submit legal arguments to the Court of Appeal before the end of the year.
They say using new tech it is now possible to identify other coughs made by Whittock as well as other coughers in the audience who "could equally have been said to have been coughing at significant moments."
This new evidence gives a more realistic context to the timing of coughs deemed ‘significant’ during the trial, they say.
In a press release they state: "Recent investigation also shows that the integrity of the audio evidence of coughing given to the jury at trial may have been compromised.
"Although none of the defendants were sent to prison, all three had their reputations ruined and they continue to be publicly mocked for crimes they did not commit."
However, one man who is convinced of the major's guilt is the show's frontman Chris Tarrant.
He spoke in response to the new TV show which hints Ingram could be innocent after all.
Writing for the : "It's a great script, based on a real-life event that made sensational headlines almost 20 years ago. I have just one slight problem with Quiz.
"It suggests the 'Coughing Major' Charles Ingram might possibly be innocent of fraud. And that is blatant nonsense.
"It's ridiculous that this show can be broadcast over three nights and yet nobody is saying, 'Hang on a minute, this man's a crook. He's guilty every step of the way."
The TV star went on to say that Ingram didn't just scam his hit show.
He said it was a "brazen attempt to cheat us out of a million quid. And by 'us' I mean the British public.
"Because that prize was funded by the phone-in competition line to select each week's contestants and generated all the cash for prizes."
In 2001, Major Charles Ingram answered 15 questions correctly to sensationally scoop the jackpot on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
But the cheque was taken from him as he left the studio as suspicions began to surface.
A court ruled he had answered the questions through help from fellow contestant Whittock, who coughed to alert him to the right answers. Ingram's wife was also said to be involved.
Whittock, a college lecturer from Cardiff, was waiting in the 'fastest finger first' group when the controversy erupted.
COURT TRIAL
A few days after the show Ingram received a message to call Paul Smith, the boss of the company which made the show.
Mr Smith said they were "irregularities" during the taping of the show and it would not be aired.
Police had also been contacted.
It was suggested Whittock had been coughing loudly to indicate the right answer, and blew his nose loudly when the major was about to give a wrong answer.
The 2003 Southwark Crown Court trial lasted four weeks and heard evidence from Ingram claiming the video tape of the show was "unfairly manipulated".
He insisted he didn't notice the coughing but 192 coughs were recorded during the second night of the show - 32 from the ten Fastest Finger First contestants, with 19 of these "significant".
The court heard the coughs were from Whittock.
It was accepted by the prosecution that he had two long standing respiratory conditions and suffered from persistent coughing.