'Millionaire' Major's debts totalled more than £50,000

An army major and his wife had debts of more than £50,000 (€73,000) when he allegedly “cheated” his way to the top prize on Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, a court heard today.

In addition, a £30,000- (€44,000)-a-year college lecturer accused of using coded coughs to help the officer pocket the seven-figure fortune, owed in excess of £37,000 (€54,000).

The financial disclosures came just before the prosecution closed its case against the trio on the ninth day of their trial at London’s Southwark Crown Court.

Soldier Charles Ingram, aged 39, and his 38-year-old nursery nurse wife, Diana, both of High Street, Easterton, Wiltshire, and Tecwen Whittock, aged 53, of Heol-y-Gors, Whitchurch, Cardiff, who is head of business studies at Pontypridd College, South Wales, each deny a single charge of “procuring a valuable security by deception” on September 10, 2001.

The Crown has claimed that the lecturer, who was one of the 10 Fastest Finger First contestants while the Royal Engineers major was in the TV quiz show’s “hot seat”, used a total of 19 strategically placed coughs to help the officer choose correct answers.

Prosecutor Nicholas Hilliard told the eight-woman, four-man jury that 12 “formal admissions of fact” had been agreed by both sides.

The last, headed “debts”, concerned an investigation into the Ingrams’ financial situation which had revealed that “on or about” September 9, 2001 - when the soldier won £4,000 (€5,800) before becoming the roll-over contestant – he and his wife had credit card and loan account debts of £52,520.86 (€73,000).

“There is no schedule of assets,” said the barrister.

Turning to Whittock, Mr Hilliard told the jury a similar police probe had discovered he had run up debts of £37,341.81(€54,000) – £20,000 (€29,000) of which was on a credit card.

The court has already been told the lecturer had a £100,000 (€147,000) mortgage on a £200,000 (€294,000) property and had spent £40,000 (€58,000) on private schooling fees for three of his four children.

The jury heard that on the plus side, he had £2,000 (€2,900) in an HSBC account in September 2001 as well as a £90,000 (€132,000) house left by his late mother-in-law.