<P> During the four - week long trial, the Prosecution provided evidence towards the charges, which included a recording of Ingram's second day on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, pager telephone records for a previous scheme the group intended to use, before deeming it too complicated - a system of four pagers intended to be hidden on Ingram's body, in which a pager's vibrations signalled the correct answer - and testimony from one of the production staff and a "Fastest Finger" contestant attending the recording, Larry Whitehurst . Although the Defence provided evidence claiming Whittock's coughing was a result of dust allergies and a hay fever he was suffering from, and Whittock himself testified against the accusations, the Prosecution refuted these claims with their evidence, including footage that showed Whittock stopped coughing when he became a contestant after Ingram . On 7 April 2003, the group were found guilty, with all three given suspended prison sentences and fines, with the Ingrams later ordered to pay legal costs within two months of the trial's conclusion . On 24 July 2003, the British Army ordered Charles Ingram to resign his commission as a Major, in the wake of the trial . </P> <P> In the aftermath of the trial, the scandal became the subject of a documentary entitled Millionaire: A Major Fraud, presented by Martin Bashir and broadcast on 21 April 2003, with a follow - up two weeks later entitled Millionaire: The Final Answer . The documentary featured excerpts from the recording that had been enhanced for the Ingrams' trial, footage of the actions made by Ingram's wife in the audience, and interviews with production staff and some of the contestants who had been present during the recording . None of the defendants in the case took part, with Ingram later describing Major Fraud and a subsequent programme of the matter, shown on ITV2, as "one of the greatest TV editing con tricks in history". Chess grandmaster James Plaskett later wrote an essay arguing in favour of the group's innocence; journalists Bob Woffinden, and Jon Ronson, each wrote a piece influenced by this essay, with Woffiden collaborating with Plaskett on a book entitled Bad Show: The Quiz, the Cough, the Millionaire Major, published in 2015, arguing that Ingram's appearance on the show coinciding with Whittock's was "chance". A play based upon the events of the scandal was written by James Graham, entitled Quiz, and was performed from 3 November 2017 to 9 December 2017, before being performed in the West End from 31 March 2018 to 16 June 2018 . </P> <P> The Phone - a-Friend lifeline provided multiple instances of controversy during the show's run . A 2002 edition of the Daily Mail reported that many contestants had selected strangers who were "contacts among the quizzing fraternity" to act as their Phone - a-Friends . Specifically, game show champion Daphne Fowler was approached by a man she had not previously met and asked if she would be his lifeline in exchange for £ 200 . Fowler refused, adding: "I thought a fair price would be a quarter of whatever the man won, so if I helped him get from £ 32,000 to £ 64,000 I would expect to get £ 16,000 ." The man was later revealed by ITV sources not to have made it onto the programme . </P> <P> In March 2007 various UK newspapers reported that an organised syndicate had been getting quiz enthusiasts onto the show in return for a percentage of their winnings . The person behind the syndicate was Keith Burgess from Northern Ireland . Burgess admitted to helping around 200 contestants to appear on the show since 1999; he estimates those contestants to have won around £ 5,000,000 . The show producers are believed to have been aware of this operation, with Burgess stating: "The show knows about me and these types of syndicates, but they cover it up to keep the show going ." An earlier version of a Phone a Friend syndicate was reported in the Northampton Chronicle and Echo during 2003 . Paul Smith, the Managing Director of Celador Productions, stated: "We are aware of Paddy Spooner and what people similar to him are doing, and we have made a priority of changing our question procedure . We are confident we have now made it impossible for anyone to manipulate the system ." Since then, the options of people that can be called have a picture of themselves shown on - air . </P>

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