A former Countdown champion has been ordered to remain in a psychiatric hospital indefinitely after stabbing a fellow player during a fan tournament in Blackpool. John Cowen, 31, who has schizophrenia, attacked Thomas Carey at the Wainwright Club, where a Focal Countdown Group event was being held.
Preston Crown Court heard that Cowen ran across the room with a kitchen knife and stabbed Carey in the left biceps. Bystanders restrained him until police arrived, who found a second knife in his pocket. Carey was treated in hospital for the wound.
The court was told that Cowen, a Cambridge mathematics graduate and former octochamp on Countdown, had expressed discontent over other players using a mobile app to practise. Judge Mathieson described the incident as a “terrifying act of deliberate violence” that could have been fatal.
Cowen, who appeared via video link from Guild Lodge psychiatric hospital, was found unfit to stand trial due to his mental condition. The judge imposed a hospital order under sections 37 and 41 of the Mental Health Act, meaning his release requires the consent of the justice secretary. Cowen had pleaded not guilty to wounding with intent and possession of bladed articles.
