A former contestant on the game show Countdown appeared in court after allegedly stabbing a rival player at a quiz-themed event. John Cowen, 30, who featured on the TV show in 2017, allegedly attacked former Countdown champion, Thomas Carey, with a knife at the Countdown in Blackpool 2024. The event is an annual tournament featuring former winners and fans of the Channel 4 gameshow who compete against each other. Mr Carey, a maths graduate from Cambridge, was taken to hospital for treatment to an injury to his arm. Cowen was arrested at the event shortly after.
The defendant, who comes from Morecambe Lancashire, appeared in court where he was accused of wounding with intent as well as being in possession of two bladed articles. He spoke only to confirm his identity at the brief hearing before Judge Darren Preston and was remanded into custody at HMP Liverpool until a further hearing on 6 December. It is not clear what Cowen’s motive for the alleged attack on Carey was.
Cowen scored the third highest total of the entire 2017 series he was a contestant on, as well as correctly spotting the nine-letter word “spreading”. He appeared in another 11 episodes, winning eight consecutive contests before eventually being defeated. Cowen’s appearance is not the first case of criminal behaviour alleged to have occurred at a quiz event. In 2018, a team at a Quiz League of London event was disqualified after exercising violence when they lost a match.
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