The Exorcist Drove Out Our Spooks!
Invisible hand pushed me into the bath, claims mum.
By Maria Williams.
The tenants of a haunted house have been so spooked by their ghostly encounters they’ve called in celebrity ghostbuster David Lambert. And David, known as The Exorcist, who has expelled the spirits that spook such stars as Tina Turner, David Bowie and Mick Jagger, has promised the frightened family they will now have a peaceful Hallowe’en. That’s a huge relief to the cowering Cowells who say they’ve suffered more than 18 months of hearing things go bump – and worse – into the night.
Mum Tracey and dad David [sic], claim three ghosts have rampaged through their 97-year-old home in Pentre, Rhondda. They say the stroppy spirits have: Dragged their daughter, Laurie, from her bed by her feet; Pushed Tracey into the bath; Made kitchen utensils fly around the room; Scrubbed the floors at night; Held night-time conversations in the loo with their five-year-old son, Nathan; Pinned Tracey to the bed.
Their tale of terror began when the family first moved into the semi-detached council house at St Stephen’s Avenue. Tracey explained: “We were sitting in the kitchen when a jug shifted and all the wooden utensils flew out, landing in a straight line on the worktop. We were scared out of our wits and ran from the house screaming. It was the start of a nightmare for us.” She added: “We started sensing a presence. Late one night, I was lying in bed with Andrew when we heard banging on the stairs and the sound of someone scrubbing floors. Another time, Andrew went downstairs and I felt something pinning me to the bed. I could hardly breathe. And at other times, I’ve gone really cold and once I felt a hand on my arm.” And she says the worst poltergeist prank of all was when an invisible force pushed her in the bath!
Daughter Laurie, 10, says she was also attacked by a disgruntled ghost. Tracey said: “Laurie was dragged out of her bed by her feet. It’s as if the presence was jealous of other females in the house.” But when it came to a face-to-face encounter, one of the spirits chose to talk to the baby of the family, five-year-old Nathan. Tracey said: “One evening, he went to the toilet and was up there a long time. My son John came screaming into the hall and said there was something wrong. We went into the hall and saw Nathan walking backwards down the stairs, his eyes fixed on the landing. He was talking to the spirit and it was as if they had befriended each other.” Nathan told his parents the ghost was called Queenie and she appeared wearing a long dress covered by a pinafore. Tracey, 32, said: “Apparently, the bathroom was once her bedroom, and when she walked across the landing she didn’t have any feet.”
It was at that point that the Cowells decided to call in a ghostbuster – and David arrived. He told the family that they were living with three spirits – an old lady, an eight-year-old girl and a young, mischievous boy. And David, from Cardiff, says he rid the house of the ghosts simply by speaking to them to persuade them to return to the spirit world. He said: “They are in limbo here, and if you remind them that their loved ones are waiting for them, then they usually go. Sometimes they do come back, but not always.”
Tracey added: “I had visions of someone really strange coming here and doing really weird things. But David has really put our minds at ease, and if the ghosts come back, then I will tell them to shut up.”
But will things go bump tonight? Like the Cowell family, we’ll have to wait and see.
Here’s how David did it… David arrives at the house and sees that little Nathan has a psychic gift. He adds: “There are three spirits here. There is an old lady, who is benevolently watching everything. Then, there is a girl, I think she is about eight years old. She is dressed in a grey dress with long skirts, an apron and a mop cap. She is dressed like a servant although she seems too young. She met a very sad, tragic end in the house. There is another ghost too, a young boy. He’s just as mischievous as the girl and he also met with a sudden death.” David talks to the ghosts and persuades them to go on their way into the spirit world. He sayd: “The old lady and the boy passed over very easily and happily. The girl wanted to stay and it took a little more persuasion, although I could tell there was a grandmother waiting for her.” David adds: “I always tell the spirits they can come back and visit any time – and many do.”
‘I saw spirits after dying on the operating table.’
At 28, interior designer David didn’t believe in ghosts. but that was when he suffered a heart attack and “died” on the operating table. Surgeons managed to “bring him back” and from that point, David says he began seeing spirits. David was convinced his brain had been damaged, and that was why he was seeing spirits – but a number of scans and examinations revealed nothing. Then a nurse told David she had called in “a specialist.” That man was a medium, and he put David in touch with a local spiritualists group.
David said: “I didn’t know what to think about it at all. But I went along to this meeting in Cardiff and told them about what I could see and I was sent straight to London.” There, he met the late Doris Stokes, who helped him develop his skills. His reputation as an exorcist, helping trapped spirits cross to the other side, soon spread across Britain and Europe. He was contacted by rock stars like Tina Turner, but refuses to reveal private details about his work for them.
And David says there’s more call for a ghostbuster than people realise. Poltergeists, he says, want us to see them, so they start to try to attract our attention with things like throwing objects around the room. And he says that animals and children, like Nathan, are the most receptive to spirits. He said: “Most spirits are just nosy and want to sit and watch the new people in their old home. But sometimes you get a ghost who wants to be noticed, and when they ware not they get frustrated and start making noises, banging on walls and things, or else hide items.”
Wales on Sunday, 31st October 1999.