A jury heard how John Cowen, 31, uttered a “half-growl, half-scream” before running across the room where the club had gathered in Blackpool with a knife in his hand
A former Countdown champion was heard ‘growling’ before he allegedly lunged at a fellow former contestant and stabbed him in the arm during a fan club tournament, a court has heard.
A jury was told how John Cowen, 31, uttered a “half-growl, half-scream” before he ran across the room where the club had gathered in Blackpool with a kitchen knife in his hand on September 14 last year.
He then attacked his rival, Thomas Carey, stabbing him in the bicep, prosecutor Rosalind Scott Bell told the hearing at Preston Crown Court today.
Around 30 members of the Focal Countdown Group had gathered at the Wainwright Social Club in Blackpool, Lancashire, where former contestants on the Channel 4 TV quiz show and fans meet to play each other.
The jury saw CCTV footage that showed Cowen as he entered the room shortly after 11.30am and attacked Mr Carey before other fans of the series overpowered him.
The court was told that Cowen felt “cheated” because rival quizzers had been practicing online ahead of contests at the convention using an online app. Cowen has been ruled unfit to stand trial, with the jury told he was “seriously mentally unwell” and currently in hospital so it is not a conventional trial. Instead, a trial of facts is held to determine if he committed the act or made the omission the charge is based on, without determining guilt.
The jury will be asked to decide whether Mr Cowen had stabbed Mr Carey, but not what his intentions were.
Talking the court through the CCTV images, Mrs Scott Bell said: “The defendant had a knife in his left hand. You can just about make it out, glinting as he walks past the camera.
“He appears to see Mr Carey and he then breaks into a run and he goes straight for him. The defendant lunged across the table with his left hand going straight towards Mr Carey. Mr Carey was forced back on to the seat behind him and you can just about make out him trying to kick towards the defendant.
“Mr Carey then grabbed the defendant’s wrist in an endeavour to stop the assault. By then he had been stabbed. He will describe how he had only been at the Wainwright Club for a short while when he heard growling.”
Cowen was pulled off Mr Carey and restrained by other members of the group before the police arrived and searched Cowen, who was found to have another identical kitchen knife in his pocket.
Mr Carey was taken to hospital where he was treated for a wound. The two men were known to each other, the court heard, from other Countdown events. Mr Cary had been a member of the Focal Countdown Group since 2011 but Cowen was not a ‘regular attender’.
Cowen appeared on Countdown in 2017 when he scored the third highest total of the series in which he was a contestant, including spotting the nine-letter word SPREADING. He appeared in the series 77 finals as the third seed in December 2017. Having won all eight of his heat games to become an octochamp he missed out on joining the 800 club by 1 point.
Mr Cary of Bingley, West Yorkshire, is also an octochamp who made his debut on the show in 2015 when he was a sixth form student.
Cowen is accused of section 18 wounding with intent and two counts of possession of a bladed article. The case continues.
