Countdown champion seems in court docket charged with stabbing rival

A Channel 4 Countdown champion has appeared in court charged with stabbing a rival contestant at a tournament of former winners.

John Cowen is accused of attacking Thomas Carey with a knife at the Countdown in Blackpool 2024 event in the Lancashire resort last month.

The 30-year-old is charged with wounding with intent and two counts possession of a bladed article, Mercedeh Jabbari, prosecuting, told the 10-minute hearing.

Channel 4 Countdown champion John Cowen (pictured) is accused of attacking Thomas Carey with a knife 

Cowen was charged with section 18 wounding with intent and possession of a bladed article after Mr Carey (pictured), who is in his 20s, was taken to hospital for treatment

Thomas Carey is a former Cambridge University maths student and is also a celebrated octochamp of the TV gameshow, making his debut two years before Cowen, in June 2015, when he was a sixth form student

Cowen was arrested at the event held at the Wainwright Club in the town – an annual tournament which pits former winners of the Channel 4 gameshow against each other.

Mr Carey, a former Cambridge University maths student, was taken to hospital for treatment on the single stab wound.

Cowen only spoke to confirm his name when he appeared at Preston Crown Court today.

Mr Carey was number three on the leaderboard going into the event, which he won in 2022, but did not compete in the opening round after the alleged attack on September 14.

Cowen, 30, is accused of attacking Thomas Carey at the Countdown in Blackpool 2024 event in the Lancashire resort last month

Cowen (pictured), will next appear at Preston Crown Court on December 6. Thomas Carey, a former Cambridge University maths student, was taken to hospital for treatment on the single stab wound

Cowen first appeared in series 77 of the Channel 4 show. Pictured: Countdown host Rachel Riley during an episode in which Cowen appeared on)

Cowen, from Morecambe, made his debut on the Channel 4 show in 2017, scoring the third-highest total of the whole series. 

Having won all eight of his heat games to become a so-called ‘octochamp’, he went on to appear in the series finals as the third seed in December 2017.

But he lost in the semi-finals to Bradley Horrocks, the host of the Blackpool event.

Mr Carey, of Bingley, West Yorkshire, who is in his 20s and is also an octochamp, made his debut two years before Cowen, in June 2015, when he was just a sixth- form student.

Cowen, also a maths graduate, will next appear at Preston Crown Court on December 6.