Family flee the talking ghost.
By Douglas Slight.
A young family have been driven from their home by a “talking ghost” which, they say, switches lights on and off, turns door knobs and steals clothes. Raymond Prin, 23, his wife Sandra and their 15-month-old son Michael made a midnight dash from their council house in Bennett Square, Exeter, to escape the ghost. They are spending Christmas with Raymond’s father in his one-bedroom flat.
Raymond goes back to the house daily to collect mail, but leaves as quickly as he can. He said yesterday that the spirit has spoken to them twice. Once he mumbled something unintelligible. Then, when Michael fell over, a voice said “Sorry.” Raymond said: “It sounded like a young man’s voice apologising for tripping the baby.”
The Prins have asked the local council to give them another home. The house’s former tenants, Terry and Sandra Richardson, also told of mysterious happenings and articles disappearing.
Daily Mirror, 24th December 1975.
Routed… by ghost lodger.
By Douglas Slight.
A ghost has driven a young couple from their home. Raymond Prin and his wife Sandra fled after a series of spine-tingling happenings. Their nerve snapped when: Clothes and linen vanished; Doorknobs rattled when nobody was near; Lights switched themselves on and off; And twice the ghost spoke as it roamed round the Prins’ council house in Bennett Square, Exeter, Devon. Once, the couple’s fifteen-month-old son Michael tripped over… and a chilling voice murmured: “Sorry.” Another time, the voice was heard muttering vague words. The ghost ignored an exorcism ceremony by a local vicar, the Rev. Donald McCullock.
Raymond, 23, said: “The vicar has told us there is an evil presence in the house – and he says it might become violent if we go back. I’m not ashamed to admit I’m afraid. We simply couldn’t return.”
Sandra, who expects another child next month, said: “It is a nice house in a nice neighbourhood. But the previous tenants also had ghostly experiences. There is something weird about the place.” Sandra added: “I’m frightened I might lose my baby if we went back.” The couple are now living with Raymond’s parents in a one-bedroomed flat in Exeter. But they have a new problem… town hall officials are threatening to evict everyone from the flat because it is overcrowded.
A council spokesman said: “We have an open mind about the ghost, but we have advised Mr and Mrs Prin to return to Bennett Square.”
Daily Mirror, 15th January 1976.
Ghost brushes off Mrs Broom.
By Douglas Slight.
A new attempt to banish a ghost was a flop yesterday. The ghost which has driven a family from their council house, had already survived a clergyman’s bid at exorcism. Yesterday, it won a tussle with spiritualist Vera Broom. Mrs Broom, a medium with forty years’ experience of the occult, admitted defeat after claiming that she talked to the uninvited guest for an hour at the house in Bennett Square, Exeter. Later she said that the ghost had the figure of a young man. She added: “I made contact with him easily, but I couldn’t make him understand the trouble he is causing.”
The ghost’s habit of rattling doorknobs, switching lights on and off, and muttering vaguely were too much for tenant Raymond Prin, 23. Mr Prin, who took his wife and baby son to stay with his parents, said yesterday: “I’m terrified. The council have refused to rehouse us and advised us to return. But it’s out of the question.”
Daily Mirror, 17th January 1976.
Ghost wins home of its very own.
By Douglas Slight.
A chatty ghost won the battle of a haunted council house yesterday. Housing officials finally gave a terrified young family a new home… and left the ghost to talk to itself. Raymond Prin, 23, his wife Sandra and baby son Michael had twice been turned down for a new house because the council did not believe that they were being haunted. The housing committee at Exeter, Devon, decided yesterday: “We still don’t believe it. But you can have another house.”
Mr and Mrs Prin fled from th ehouse in Bennett-Square, Exeter, just before Christmas, and since then they have lived with Raymond’s parents. They claim they were driven from their home by articles disappearing, lights switching themselves on and off and the sound of a young man’s voice.
A vicar who tried to lay the ghost by exorcism failed. So did a spiritualist, who claimed it was a tall fair-headed boy killed in a motor bike accident. She said she had talked to him for an hour but failed to make him realise the misery he was causing. Mr Prin said after yesterday’s decision: “We’re absolutely delighted.” Exeter council thinks it will re-let the house. A spokesman said: “We have 2,000 families on our waiting list. The house will soon be lived in… ghost or no ghost.”
Daily Mirror, 7th February 1976.