Fanaticism and debts may have sparked fraud plan

Beneath the smart-suited and polished appearances of Mayor Charles Ingram, his wife Diana and Tecwen Whittock, were three obsessives about a quiz show, which, with its carefully structured format has become one of the most succesful of its type and – at its peak – drew 19 million viewers. It has been sold or licensed to 106 countries and given rise to a slew of phrases – such as "Phone a Friend'' – that entered the national consciousness.

But the show also bred a peculiar type of fanatic, desperate to get a chance to win the £1m prize. All three of those who set out to defraud the programme were among them.

All had spent thousands of pounds in calls to the telephone hotline used to select contestants. Mrs Ingram and her brother, Adrian Pollock, had appeared on the show previously, each winning £32,000. This experience inspired Mr Pollock to write a book, Win a Million completed by his sister and with contributions from her husband, on how to get on the show; it was never published.

Ingram used to practise for 20 minutes a day on a mock "Fastest Finger First" keypad, constructed by Mr Pollock, to help him win the round that gives contestant a chance in the hot seat. Whittock himself was a self-confessed "quiz-show anorak"' who had also appeared on several other television shows, such as Sale of the Century, without notable success.

One other thing linked the three – all were heavily in debt. and appeared to be living beyond their means, although the trial judge suggested that was far less likely to have been a motive than their fanaticism for the show. The Ingrams, who have three children and lived in a five-bedroom Army house, were about £50,000 in debt; Ingram told the programme that he want to win in order to buy a pony for his daughters. Whittock, paid around £30,000 a year as head of business studies at Pontypridd College, was around £37,000 in debt, with three children at private school and a £100,000 mortgage.

Their chance to fulfil their dreams came in September 2001 when the major won a place on the "Fastest Finger First" panel. After gaining the hot seat by being the fastest contestant to put together the name of the Agatha Christie book Death on the Nile, he answered five questions to reach £1,000 prize money, using up two of his "lifelines'' allowed under quiz rules. Recording then stopped for the day, but not before the names of the next days' "Fastest Finger First" panel were read out, with Whittock among them. Detectives believe that the couple had already hatched a plot to use four separate pagers, placed strategically around the major's clothing. An accomplice in the studio using a mobile phone would relay the questions to an outsider who would then call the correct pager, with the position of the device on the body corresponding to the correct answer. However, police believe it was dropped as being "too risky".

Whittock's presence on the panel gave them the chance they were looking for. As the Ingrams left the studio, mobile phone records showed they were in touch with him. In fact, they had been in touch with him for months. But the prosecution claimed in court that it was on this night that a plan was hastily drawn up so Whittock could assist Ingram. There was another call the next day as the Ingrams returned to the studios, and the plan was finalised.

The idea they agreed on was that Ingram would slowly and precisely read out loud each of the four options when faced with a question. When he said the correct option, Whittock, if he knew the answer, would cough. It is believed Whittock was promised one third of the prize money that was won.

When the recording resumed the next day, with both the Ingrams and Whittock pretending not to know each other, Ingram told the presenter Chris Tarrant he had "a strategy'', and added: "I was a bit defensive. This time I'm going to counter-attack."

Ingram then answered the next eight questions correctly, aided on six of them by carefully timed coughs from Whittock, just 10ft away behind him, as he speculated out loud on the possible answers. On the eighth question, for example, when he is asked who was the second husband of Jacqueline Kennedy, a distinct cough is audible when he speculates it might have been Aristotle Onassis and he eventually settles on that answer after a second cough and telling Tarrant he has a "sub-strategy'' to take his time.

Tarrant would later tell the jury that, because he was focussing so much on Ingram, he was not aware of any coughing.

On the final question, Whittock made at least six coughs as the major debated at length the answer. In the tumult that followed his correct answer, Tarrant is shown embracing the major and declaring him ''the most amazing contestant we have ever had'' before handing him a cheque for £1m.

But behind the scenes, Celador staff were already suspicious: the coughing had been noticed, the couple had not appeared as jubilant afterwards as the newly rich might; they had argued in their dressing room. The tape was watched again and again, the coughing traced to the seats where Whittock had been and the police called in. And a stop was put on a cheque for £1m.