Council re-houses ‘haunted’ family.
Mystery power shatters glass.
By Andrew Hewitt.
A bad-tempered poltergeist has driven a family of five out of their Leek council house. Twenty-nine-year-old Mrs Julie Patalong got up last Saturday morning to find glassesand ornaments scattered around her living room floor. The mother-of-three immediately thought there had been a break-in and called the police into their home at 9 Abbotts Road. But the atmosphere turned distinctively eerie when no signs of forced entry or fingerprints could be found by detectives.
Even the manner in which the objects had been disturbed was most unusual. Around two dozen glasses which had been on a wall cabinet had been shattered into thousands of tiny little pieces on the carpet. But other ornaments that had sat alongside the glasses were not broken, even though they had been moved some six feet across the floor.
“We were getting more and more worried. There was no logical explanation. We hadn’t heard a thing during the night, the kids don’t sleep walk and even the dog hadn’t barked,” said Julie. Julie and her husband Robert decided to call the Rev. Paul Collins in. He admitted it could be the work of a poltergeist and offered to blessthe house. But after being warned that the blessing could aggravate the ghost, the couple decided to abandon the house. “We spent the weekend staying with family and friends, and went to see the council on Monday morning,” said Robert. After an emergency meeting the Moorland District Council agreed to rehouse the family about half-a-mile away on Westminster Road.
“We were absolutely terrified, but the council were very understanding. They gave us the keys to the new house on Monday afternoon and we moved in straight away,” said Julie. The couple and their three young sons had lived at Abbotts Road for five months without any trouble, but they will only go back now in daylight hours to pick up the post.
“Looking back, the only other unusual thing I can remember isthat windows appeared to open by themselves, but I put a stop to that by nailing them in,” admitted Robert.
The haunted house now stands empty, but the Moorlands District Council intend to re-let it after they have carried out some essential repairs. “Nothing has happened at this house in the past and we don’t envisage any problems in the future. But this appeared to be a genuine case where there seemed to be no explanation for what was happening, so we agreed to rehouse the family,” said council spokesman Mr Dave Tate.
Rev. Paul Collins: offered to bless the house.
9 Abbotts Road: ‘No explanation for what was happening.’
Leek Post and Times, 2nd July 1986.