Couple call in vicar over ‘spirit’.
An Upper Gornal couple have called on a vicar to exorcise a “spirit” which they claim has haunted their 70-year-old home for nine months. Robin and Maureen Richards said they were at their wits’ end. They claim a poltergeist is responsible for a catalogue of mysterious and sinister happenings at their Nethergate home, which have come to a head in the last five weeks. A leading Church of England expert, who has asked not to be named, has counselled the couple after they gave details of more than 30 incidents. The list includes telephone wires being “cut” as Mr Richards made a call and an 8oz onyx cigarette lighter being “hurled” 14 feet across a room at Mrs Richards. Mr Richards, aged 53, also claims to have heard footsteps and to have been “tapped” on the shoulder.
Their cat and dogs had also fled in terror, said Mrs Richards, 51. Matters have been made worse by the disappearance of £100, bank cards and books, four pairs of spectacles, house and car keys, clocks, food and even bottles of sherry, but there have been no signs of a break-in and doors have been locked.
Mr Richards, a heating engineer, said today: “This morning I found one of my pairs of jeans ruined by bleach and a bedroom clock has gone missing.” He said a leading churchman with experience in supernatural activity had confirmed that they were suffering from “classic” poltergeist activity. “We are expecting a call later today from a clergyman who is going to come round to talk to us and exorcise the spirit,” he said.
Wolverhampton Express and Star, 29th May 1993.