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Bit of a comedown for him!
Coughing major from Who Wants to be a Millionaire sells jewellery at Norfolk Show
VICTORIA LEGGETT
Last updated: 02/07/2010 11:00:00
Charles Ingram at the Royal Norfolk Show
Among the many high profile visitors at the Royal Norfolk Show this year was notorious game-show cheat Major Charles Ingram.
Hidden away in the craft marquee, the former Who Wants to be a Millionaire contestant, who was found guilty of cheating his way to the £1m jackpot in 2001, sat beside his wife Diana, who was also convicted at the trial.
The two were manning a stall selling her jewellery line.
Neither was willing to talk about their experience at the two-day agricultural show or whether the couple's history was helping to attract attention to the business.
The couple and Tecwen Whittock, a college lecturer from Cardiff, were all found guilty of conspiring to cheat the show following a trial at Southwark Crown Court in April 2003 which was described by the judge as a “most unusual case”.
Ingram, who reached the £1m prize, was guided to correct answers with the help of deliberately timed coughs from Whittock.
The Ingrams were sentenced to 18 months in jail, suspended for two years, while Whittock, from Cardiff, received a 12-month sentence, also suspended for two years. Ingram's wife was found guilty of helping “set up” the scam.
The Ingrams were also each fined £15,000 and ordered to pay £10,000 costs while Whittock was fined £10,000 with £7,500 costs.
Following the trial the major received an administrative discharge from the army which means he kept his commission and rank but was forced into retirement.
In a statement issued in July 2003, he said: “My service in the Army is and will remain a source of pride.
“I very much regret that the pressures associated with recent events have made it impossible for me to complete my full term of military service as I had hitherto envisaged.”
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