MARCH 20: AN army major and his wife had debts of more than £50,000 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-a-year college lecturer accused of using coded coughs to help the officer pocket the seven-figure fortune, owed in excess of £37,000.

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

Charles Ingram, 39, and his 38-year-old nursery nurse wife, Diana, both of High Street, Easterton, near Devizes, and Tecwen Whittock, 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 major won £4,000 before becoming the roll-over contestant, he and his wife had credit card and loan account debts of £52,520.86.

"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 - £20,000 of which was on a credit card.

The court had been told the lecturer had a £100,000 mortgage on a £200,000 property and had spent £40,000 on private schooling fees for three of his four children.

The jury was told he had £2,000 in an HSBC account in September 2001 as well as a £90,000 house left by his late mother-in-law.

On Tuesday the court heard that a total of 192 coughs and assorted "throat clearings" were recorded while Ingram allegedly used some of them to cheat his way to the top prize.

Dr John French said that left a number of others, including 36 he felt came from one person sitting in a row of Fastest Finger First contestants hoping for a turn in the game show's hot seat.

One of them was Whittock but the father of four told police when interviewed that any correlation between his coughing and the officer's right answers was just coincidence.

The Crown has claimed Whittock would use so-called particular coughs to guide Ingram to most of the correct answers as the Royal Engineers officer repeated aloud the four options on offer after each question.

Concluding evidence he started Monday, Dr French, who agreed the forensic analysis of coughing was in its infancy, was also asked about the sound that would have reached Ingram while his performance was being recorded at Elstree Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire.

The court has heard that Whittock, who sat about 11 feet from the major, told police in his interview that Ingram would have been very brave to distinguish from coughs from different sources.

The sound expert said that what the officer heard through the microphone he wore was equivalent to what reached his ears independently and approximated to the real sound in the studio at the time.

But he maintained the human brain can actually determine things the microphone can't.

He went on: "We have two ears which help us to determine directionality so a person receiving sound ... would have a very sharp indication where that sound comes from."

Update from the court

CHARLES Ingram said the inspiration for a performance which show host Chris Tarrant described as "hard to fathom", was the Army's lack of resources.

"I decided I would have to do everything I could to get to the £1 million," he explained after his arrest.

"That meant taking calculated risks, weighing up the answers, and taking account of the risks just as I have to do in the Army.

"I had seen other people on the TV not go as far as they could have done. I decided I would take limited risks and go for it, that is what I did."

A COLLEGE lecturer accused of using coded coughs to help an Army major pocket top prize on Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, had three children at private school and owed £20,000 on his credit card at the time, the court was told.

But Tecwen Whittock told police that despite his commitments everything was "under control".

"I don't need to cheat to get the money," the £30,000-a-year business studies head insisted.

"Why would I put myself in serious risk of a prison sentence when I have never done it before?" he asked one of the detectives interviewing him.

The lecturer accused of helping Major Ingram cheat his way to the top prize accepted that up to 19 allegedly coded coughs came from him.

Tecwen Whittock's admission came just before one of the world's top sound experts told a jury that while the forensic analysis of coughing was still "virgin territory" he believed the same person was responsible for the apparent throat problem.

Sound expert Dr John French said it was also clear they came from a row of five Fastest Finger First contestants that included the lecturer.

A total of 192 coughs and assorted "throat clearings" were recorded while the major allegedly used some of them to cheat his way to a million.

But, he said, the vast majority came from the studio audience and could be discounted.

Dr French told the court that just left a number of others.

They included the 36 coughs he felt came from one person sitting in a row of Fastest Finger First contestants hoping for a turn in the game show's "hot seat".

One of them was college lecturer Tecwen Whittock, who had already admitted to the court that he may have made 19 of the coughs.

(The case is continuing)