A former Countdown champion stabbed a rival during a tournament, letting out a “half-growl, half-scream” before launching himself at his fellow quizzer.
John Cowen, 31, sped across the room to unleash the knife attack on Thomas Carey as both attended a fan gathering in Blackpool.
The assault occurred on September 14, 2024, at the Wainwright Social Club during a Focal Countdown Group event.
Cowen was detained indefinitely in a psychiatric hospital after the Cambridge mathematics graduate was deemed unfit to stand trial by psychiatrists.
The order was handed down at Preston Crown Court on Wednesday.
CCTV footage shown to the court captured Cowen entering the venue shortly after 11.30am, carrying a kitchen knife in his left hand.
Prosecutor Rosalind Scott Bell told the court: “He appears to see Mr Carey, then breaks into a run and goes straight for him. The defendant lunged across the table with his left hand going straight towards Mr Carey.”
Mr Carey described hearing the terrifying moment before the attack, where he heard his assailant let out a “half-growl, half-scream”.
Countdown champion John Cowen stabbed a fellow contestant during a tournament
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Channel 4
“He was pushing past people and tables to get towards me,” the victim stated.
“He came up to me with the knife and he then stabbed me in the arm. Immediately, I grabbed onto his arm and called for help.”
The attack left Mr Carey wounded in his left bicep, requiring hospital treatment with steri-strips.
Judge Guy Mathieson described the incident as a “terrifying incident of deliberate violence with a knife which could have caused far more serious injury and possible lethality.”
John Cowen was detained indefinitely in a psychiatric hospital at Preston Crown Court
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PA
The court heard that Cowen harboured resentment towards players who used a phone app to sharpen their skills at the popular Channel 4 quiz show.
“The one matter that was tentatively put to Mr Carey was that there had been some ongoing disagreement between you, Mr Cowen, and others on the use of an app to play or help with playing Countdown,” Judge Mathieson stated.
“Mr Carey was at a complete loss as to why he had been singled out for this attack.”
Cowen appeared on the programme in 2017, achieving the third-highest score of his series and identifying the nine-letter word “spreading”.
He won eight consecutive matches to earn octochamp status before his eventual defeat, later returning for the champion of champions tournament in 2019.
Under the hospital order imposed by Judge Mathieson, Cowen will remain at Guild Lodge psychiatric hospital in Preston, receiving treatment for his “relapsing and remitting” condition.
“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,” the judge told Cowen via video link.
His release will require approval from the Secretary of State for Justice or a Mental Health Tribunal.