Game show cheat Charles Ingram has described how his life has become hell since the Who Wants to be a Millionaire coughing scandal in 2001. On Wednesday Ingram was found guilty of assaulting a 13-year-old boy, but was given an absolute discharge. The former Army major complained of how he was persecuted and how he grabbed the boy's collar after he mockingly coughed at him. Ingram told the BBC the assault case was 'a travesty' and said it was pursued 'purely because of who I am - someone notorious'. "I'm sickened by the maliciousness of it all, but it's typical of the trouble we have suffered," he said. "We get a lot of coughing wherever we go, even when we go abroad to Spain. Generally it's good humoured, and if it gets intimidating we just walk away. "But there's a very small minority in the local community who are really vitriolic and make our lives hell. "Our dog was kicked and punched by six youths and subsequently died. Our cat was shot with an air pistol. "I can't go for a run because people try to run me off the road. I know it's deliberate because they slow down afterwards and cough out of the window. "We can't do things as a family. We can't go to the cinema because there'll be a few youths who keep coughing and coughing until we have to leave because it's ruining the film for everyone else." Ingram says he has reported about 20 of the incidents to the police, but is unable to identify those responsible.
