A former Countdown champion has been detained in a hospital for treatment after attacking a rival player with a knife during a tournament.
Preston crown court heard that John Cowen, 31, ran across a room in Blackpool to attack a fellow player, Thomas Carey, before being restrained by attenders. The space had been hosting a Focal Countdown Group event, where former Countdown champions and contestants faced fans in spelling and number challenges.
The jury heard that Cowen, who was not present in court, had attacked Carey as he “felt cheated” that others had used a mobile app to practise the game. No clear motive was given during the trial, but the court heard that Cowen, who has schizophrenia, had “expressed discontent over the use of an app” by some of his fellow players during fan conventions and contests.
Judge Mathieson described the attack as a “terrifying incident of deliberate violence with a knife which could have caused far more serious injury and possible lethality”. He decided that Cowen should remain in hospital for an “indefinite duration” under section 37/41 of the Mental Health Act.
Addressing Cowen, who appeared via video link from the Guild Lodge psychiatric hospital in Preston, Mathieson said: “Your attitude to that treatment remains hostile and so any potential treatment and monitoring in the community would not be effective as you would not engage.
“I am satisfied that you are suffering from a mental disorder of such a nature that it is appropriate for you to be detained in hospital for medical treatment.”
Cowen did not react to the decision.
CCTV footage showed Cowen entering the Wainwright Club shortly after 11.30am with a kitchen knife in his left hand, before appearing to spot Carey and running towards him.
The court heard that after Cowen was stopped by bystanders, police arrested him and found a second kitchen knife in his pocket. Carey was taken to hospital, where he was treated for a wound to his left biceps
Cowen was charged with two counts of possession of a bladed article in a public place and wounding with intent. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Cowen, of Morecambe, Lancashire, first competed on Countdown in 2017, when he finished in the semi finals, before returning in 2019 to compete in the champion of champions tournament, where he reached the quarter-finals, in which former contestants and champions play against fans.
The court heard that Carey had been a member of the Countdown fanclub since 2011, and had known Cowen from previous meetings and events the group had organised.
Cowen, a Cambridge mathematics graduate, won the coveted Countdown teapot several times, getting a rare nine-letter word along the way, and achieved the distinction of becoming an octochamp after winning eight consecutive games.
Mathieson had ruled that Cowen was unfit to stand trial based on an assessment by two psychiatrists, and described him as “seriously mentally unwell”, instead instructing the jury to determine the facts of what had happened.
Representing the prosecution, Rosalind Scott Bell told the court that Carey had been in the club for only a short time “when he heard growling and saw the defendant coming towards him”.
Scott Bell said Carey initially believed the knife was fake, but that the defendant “kept coming towards him, lunged across the table and stabbed him”.
In addition to his detention, Cowen will also be subject to a restriction order, meaning his discharge from hospital would require the consent of the justice secretary.