Latest on knife-wielding Countdown champion who stabbed rival at Blackpool tournament
A knife-wielding Countdown champion who stabbed a rival player at a tournament in Blackpool appeared for sentencing at Preston Crown Court today (Monday, November 17).
The court heard John Cowen, 31, ran across Wainwright Social Club in Blackpool with a knife and lunged across a table to attack rival player Thomas Carey.
It happened on September 14, 2024 at the Focal Countdown Group event, where ex-contestants were due to play against fans of the Channel 4 show. About 30 people were in the club's function room at the time, including Mr Carey.
Judge Guy Mathieson ruled that Cowen, from Morecambe, was unfit to stand trial at a previous hearing and told jurors to instead determine the facts of what had happened. They found he had committed assault and had been in possession of a knife in a public place.
Jurors were told he was "seriously mental unwell" and was in hospital.
Cowen, a Cambridge maths graduate, was due to be sentenced at Preston Crown Court today (Monday, November 14), but HHJ Mathieson directed that the matter be adjourned to November 26, 2025.
The adjournment is to allow further enquiries to be made and information provided to the court before a sentence can be determined.
Cowley has been remanded in custody until that date.
He appeared on Countdown in 2017 and scored the third-highest total score during his series.
The 31-year-old competed in a further 11 episodes of the quiz show, winning eight consecutive contests, before being finally defeated.