Licensee continues to back quizmaster after court battle

A publican has re-affirmed his faith in his quizmaster after he was cleared of cheat allegations when a two and a half year court battle ended yesterday.​ Sean O'Donnell, licensee at the Kings Arms in Bedford, Bedfordshire, saw quizmaster Tony Barclay become embroiled in legal proceedings to clear his name after a contestant accused him of being a cheat.

Pub goer Dave Crane made the allegation when Mr Barclay told him he had incorrectly answered a question during the Monday night quiz, a decision that lost him the £210 prize.

The question had been to name the first five regular presenters of the National Lottery on television and Mr Crane was so adamant that he had it right that after the event he used his quiz team's website to accuse Mr Barclay of "cheating".

After the years of legal wrangling though a judge at Luton Crown Court last week ruled in favour of Mr Barclay who was awarded £5,000 damages over the remark. Mr Crane was also ordered to pay Mr Barclay's £12,500 legal bill.

Despite the court proceedings though, licensee Mr O'Donnell was determined to go on with his quiz, which attracts up to 60 people a week and has continued to use Mr Barclay during the ordeal.

"I'm very surprised over how far this was taken," said Mr O'Donnell. "Our quiz has always been very good natured. It's not a tough one and is only a bit of fun, but it is very popular and has been running for five years now. We always have a bit of banter over the answers but nothing like this has happened before.

"Tony felt he had to clear his name but has continued to run the quiz since this started and I have every confidence in what he does. At the end of the day what the quizmaster says is final, I pay out the money to the winner so I'm sticking to that."