Convicted British game show cheats want appeal

By BETH GARDINER

LONDON (AP) - Under the lights of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, Charles Ingram jumped from answer to answer and changed his mind frequently en route to winning the equivalent of $2.3 million Cdn.

Each time Ingram was presented with a question and four possible answers, he mentioned the answers one by one. Each time, his convicted conspirator Tecwen Whittock - waiting at the edge of the stage for his chance to be a contestant - could be heard coughing at the correct choice. Britain's Independent Television aired excerpts Monday from the game show episode that led to a real-life trial. Ingram, Whittock and Ingram's wife Diana were convicted April 7 of cheating.

Prosecutors said Whittock, a college teacher, used "coded coughs" to guide Ingram, an army major, to the correct multiple-choice answers. The three defendants got suspended sentences of a year to 18 months and were ordered to pay thousands of dollars in fines and court costs.

The trio say they are innocent and Whittock said Monday that he planned to appeal his conviction. He accused producers of playing misleading excerpts from the show.

"They were played a distorted tape several times, " he told British Broadcasting Corp. radio, adding that "the ordinary soundtrack was only allowed to be played for one question. That was not fair."

Between excerpts aired Monday, crew members and contestants described how they'd slowly realized during the taping that Ingram was cheating.

Millionaire host Chris Tarrant repeatedly expressed surprise during the program at Ingram's strange behaviour - the contestant appeared unsure about nearly every answer he gave and often settled on one he'd earlier said was wrong.

"You thought it was Berlin, Berlin, Berlin, you changed your mind to Paris," the host said in amazement after Ingram reversed course on the question that brought him $1.15 million. "Baron Haussmann is best known for his planning of which city?"

Ingram, explaining that the name sounded German, became set on Berlin, the wrong answer. He seemed ready to choose it, never having even mentioned the correct answer, Paris.

Whittock coughed once, then loudly whispered the word "No," covering it with another cough on the tape Monday. A moment later, he blew his nose, prompting Ingram to try again.

"I think it's Paris," Ingram said, winning a cough of affirmation from Whittock.

Producers became suspicious during the show but awarded Ingram a cheque for his winnings anyway. Before he could cash it, they launched an investigation and called police.