‘Ghost’ Happenings Are Due To Son Hanged For Murder, Says Family.
By Sunday Dispatch Reporter.
So many strange things are happening in their home, say the Bentleys of Norbury, S.W., that it must be the “ghost” of their son Derek, who, at the age of 19, was hanged for his part in the murder of a policeman at Croydon three years ago.
The family say they are among the happiest in Britain “because Derek is once more among us.” The strange happenings, they say, include: 1. Bedclothes rise up in the night and hover in mid-air above the sleeper. 2. Electric-light fittings in the room which Derek occupied fall for no reason. 3. Bedclothes on a bed which has not been slept in since Derek was arrested have been turned back. 4. Doors open and bang with mysterious knockings. 5. Muffled footsteps walk across Derek’s bedroom accompanied by bangs on the floor.
The family were so perturbed by all this – it started three weeks ago – that they told the publication Two Worlds and called in a spiritualist. After holding a seance in their parlour at Fairview-road, he told them: “It is nothing evil, but he is trying to contact you.” Iris Bentley, 23-year-old sister of Derek told me: “I went into a coma and heard Derek’s voice. He told me to get well (Iris has a leg ailment) and try to clear his name. He said he is working from “the other side.”
Uncle Bert, who experienced the moving bed-clothes, said: “It happened twice in one night just after my birthday. I have always shared Derek’s room, and when he was at home we were often skylarking.” Said Derek’s father, Mr William Bentley: “I never believed in spiritualism until the seance. We couldn’t understand the strange things that have been happening and we were getting worried. Now that we know Derek is among us we are the happiest family in Britain. He was a great practical joker. Whenever any strange ‘things’ happen now, we laugh about it because we know it is Derek.”
Mrs Lilian Bentley, Derek’s mother, told me: “I have always kept his bed as it was left, except for changing the sheets. On occasions, after I have made it, I find the bedclothes turned down, though no one else has been in the room.”
Weekly Dispatch (London), 22nd April 1956.