Driven out by ‘ghost’.
By Amanda Doherty.
A Coppull woman who has spent the past five weeks in a state of terror has fled her home despite calling on a medium to rid the flat of an unwanted ‘guest’. Joan Morris, of Dickens Road, claims she has been subjected to a series of terrifying experiences, including objects flying across her living room, blasts of cold air, lights fusing and the television switching itself on and off. She realised something was not right when her tiny terrier Mindy started acting strangely by refusing to enter some of the rooms in the flat.
Joan, who has hardly slept since the strange goings on began, explained: “At first I didn’t notice anything, but then Mindy started acting strangely. She would stand and stare at the landing and not go into the bedroom. It has been horrible. At night she stands on the bed and stares at the door and I got a feeling all the time that someone was in the flat walking around.” She added that her granddaughter had rushed into the living room screaming. “She would not stop crying and it seemed that something had really frightened her. My other daughter brought her son here as well and he would not go out to the landing, even though he has lived here before.”
Joan said that although she has not actually seen anything, she had felt an overwhelming ‘presence’ in her home. “It’s in every room and this week it has become overpowering. I had a cross and chain in the house yesterday and, when I went to look for it, the cross was in one place and the chain in another.”
In desperation, Joan contacted John Sutton, manager of well-known medium James Byrne, to see if he could help and he put her in touch with Vivien Wilkinson. Vivien, who is a spiritual healer and medium, visited the house last week and claims she successfully contacted the ghost, who she said was the spirit of a young man, and asked it to leave. But Joan, who has lived in the flat for the past two years, has decided enough is enough and has now moved out. “The whole experience has taken so much out of me, and the medium said that if I started thinking about him it would bring him back. It will always be on my mind so I’m not taking any chances. I’m just so frightened of bringing him back.” Joan now plans to stay with her family for the near future and try to put the experience behind her. “People will probably laugh and think that I’m going mad, but sitting in that flat on my own knowing he was standing in the landing was driving me mad,” added Joan.
Joan Morris and daughter Sharon, left, pictured outside the house which she claims was haunted.
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Church condemns use of medium.
Local clergy have warned of the dangers of spiritualism after a woman called in a medium to help get rid of a ghost from her home. The Rev. John Stewart of Coppull St John’s Parish Church said he believed in paranormal experiences, but would question the sources. “I would strongly advise people not to get involved with spiritualism and I would question their sources because I certainly don’t think it’s God given. The Bible is quite clear about not consorting with mediums and spiritualists, and as far as I’m concerned I would have nothing to do with themm. I think this lady called in the wrong kind of people. She should have contacted a specialist in the field through the diocese.”
Coppull Methodist Minister, the Rev. Tim Morris, agreed with Mr Stewart, describing the whole thing as “dodgy”. “Scripture teaches that spiritualist teaching and attempts to communicate with the dead are forbidden, but unfortunately, it does not stop people dabbling in it.” He added that he would have been happy to go to the house and pray with Joan and added that he had met people who were emotionally scarred after getting involved with the occult. “I don’t doubt for one minute that the lady feels better, but I don’t believe it comes from God. Where it does come from is debatable and the results may be good for a time, but the Devil can heal as well and it doesn’t lead someone to the Christian faith because it doesn’t lead them to God.”
Chorley Guardian, 9th Decemer 1993.