A British Army major used an accomplice's strategic coughing to "cheat his way" to the top prize in Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, a court was told today.
As the questions from game show host Chris Tarrant grew in difficulty and financial promise, Major Charles Ingram used the coughs to climb gradually to the seven figure fortune, London's Southwark Crown Court was told.
The vocal signals were carefully timed to tell the 39-year-old soldier which of the four possible answers was the right one, said Mr Nicholas Hilliard, prosecuting.A video of his apparent success heard him say at one point that he was relying on a particular "strategy and counter-strategy".
But once the £1 million sterling cheque had been handed over, several questions later, Mr Tarrant said: "I have no idea how you got there. You went to hell and back out there ... I have no idea what your strategy was."
Mr Ingram and his wife Diana (38) and Mr Tecwen Whittock (53) each deny a single charge alleging they "procured a valuable security by deception".
In a day-long opening address, Mr Hilliard told what is expected to be a four week trial that it was the Crown's case that the Royal Engineers Major had "cheated his way" to the fortune.
The method, he claimed, was simple. After each question was asked, Mr Ingram would repeat aloud the various options and in most cases would be told which one to choose with a couple of coughs immediately afterwards.
Mr Hilliard alleged that not only had tests indicated these coughs came from the area where Mr Whittock was sitting, but others around him recalled that at the time Mr Ingram was in the "hot seat" he had seemed to have a persistent throat problem.