HomePsychic Powers

by Chillzero

January, 2007
Earlier this year the UK was "treated" to a new TV series called "Britain"s Psychic Challenge" . There are a few sites covering the details of this show, so I won"t recover old ground. My focus is on the eventual winner, a Mrs Diane Lazarus. Yes – that is her real name, by marriage to a solicitor whom she assists with murder cases – something possibly worth bearing in mind.

Diane's main contribution to her winning status came from 2 particular challenges, both of which concerned locating "missing" people hidden within an area they were brought to. In both cases Diane thought for a few moments, and then walked off directly to the "bodies" by the most direct route. She found them both within minutes where even professional searchers had floundered a bit. It was admittedly quite surprising, but I didn't feel that enough information was availble to us as viewers to fully consider the validity of the test. At the end of the series Diane announced that thanks to those performances she had been asked to work with the Air and Coastguard Rescue Service and she has accepted that offer.

This was enough to tweak my interest, so I had a look at her website which carries several glowing testimonies about her abilities, and claims that:

"Her ability to visualise past and future events has led her to being called upon by police in England, Ireland and Wales, her accuracy in several murder investigations promoting senior officers to call for her psychic assistance in a number of high profile crimes."
Amongst her letters I found one from DC Daly of the West Midlands Police, regarding the murder of Mark Green, who was reported missing from Birmingham in 2002. Diane"s summary of the case claims: "Police to help in the search for college art lecturer Mark Green, who had vanished while on a night out more than two months earlier, had called her in." I emailed the West Midlands Police force to try and gain any verification about Diane"s assistance in this case. The response was as follows:
I am afraid that Marcella Daly no longer works for West Midlands Police and so I cannot provide any further information regarding the page on Diane Lazarus' website. Indeed I am unable to verify the validity or provenance of that letter.

Unfortunately, the officer in charge of the case referred to on Diane Lazarus' website has subsequently retired. I was, however, able to speak to another officer who worked with the case quite closely. He states without any doubt that no psychic was used to locate the body (the method of discovery was much more mundane).

In respect of the use of psychics by West Midlands Police, please find attached to this email an extract from a recent letter by the Head of our Major Investigations Unit.

I have since found out that although Mark Green was killed in Birmingham, his body was taken to Coventry, and the murderer"s brother confessed the crime to police.

The attached letter mentioned above follows, and was sent to me to address my questions which were: "Would it be possible for you to provide details of where, when and at what public cost other such psychics have been used - if at all - within your force"s jurisdiction? If psychics have been used, might I ask whether their input was useful?"

Extract from a recent letter from David Mirfield, Head of West Midlands Police Major Investigations Unit (MIU):

As head of the West Midlands Police Major Investigation Unit (MIU) we are the team commissioned to tackle the majority of murder investigations within our force area. We use a variety of specialists to assist the Department during investigations; some are within the team itself while others are experts employed on a consultancy basis. The use of psychics is not a common practice and we do not have what you may call a regular contributor.

I have consulted with all of my senior investigating officers (SIO's), and none can recall using such a person. I have personally received letters on an unsolicited basis from individuals claiming to have information; often these are of little if any value and will not be acted upon.

They can often be misleading and inconsistent with the facts. The investigation of murder is, like all major crimes, merely a systematic approach using standard procedures in a methodical way. They are often complex processes using multiple and concurrent lines of enquiry but again like all crimes the police rely heavily on information it receives, most often from eyewitnesses, other witnesses, and technical and scientific support. We also work very closely with the families of the deceased, this is a sensitive area and often information given by well meaning individuals can cause hurt and often disappointment to the family.

I would never say never as far as the investigation of murder is concerned and of course all information received is treated in the same way and processed through the 'system'. I am not personally aware of any occasion where the use of a psychic has resulted in the detection of a murder.

What I like about this letter, and why I am particularly pleased it was forwarded to me, is the concern shown to the families that suffer through these ordeals. Most psychics work directly with the families, and tell them incredibly detailed stories about how their loved ones suffered, how they were alone at the end, or that the last word they uttered was the family member"s name. The response above shows that the police try to shelter the families from these stories which have never yet been proven true. The police work hard to solve cases and use all the information available to them to not only solve cases but also ensure that the situation is handled in a way that will not save a guilty person from conviction. This includes the range of facts that are withheld from the public, whereas psychics will often announce names and descriptions to the families and press, regardless of the potential consequences of "outing" suspects to the public.

Another section of Ms Lazarus"s website described how the police opened a cold case after she "investigated" it, and that they were "currently" acting on her advice by performing DNA tests on a suspect based on her information. I decided to follow up this information also.

My email to South Wales Police:

Hello, I hope you can help me gather some information. I am pulling together some information on two fronts : I am looking into the use of psychics by police forces in the UK. I would like to know how often psychics are used by your police force. Can you give me any examples of verifiable information provided by them that helped solve a case? How much money is invested in using psychics? The other information I would like to ask about concerns one psychic in particular. Diane Lazarus claims on her website that you reopened the case of Muriel Drinkwater based on information provided by her. She also claims that you were checking the DNA of a suspect based on her input. Can you verify any of these claims? Was anyone convicted for this murder, and if so wasa it based on what Diane had to tell you? Did she give you any specific information that was verified as the case was completed? I understand that she was working with detective sergeant Peter Hall. Would he be available to comment on this case at all? I look forward to receiving your response,
Their response came back as follows:
I write in connection with your request for information dated 14th April 2006, concerning use of psychics. Your request for information has now been considered and the response is as follows :

I have spoken to the Senior Investigating Officer dealing with the Muriel Drinkwater murder (1946). He has no recollection of South Wales Police ever using a psychic on any murder enquiry over the last 30 years, including that of Muriel Drinkwater.

South Wales Police have had no dealings with the named Diane Lazarus and can confirm that the statements you allege she has made on her website are untrue. Peter Hall was a Sergeant with South Wales Police and has since retired.

The actual wording on the website has been slightly altered since I contacted the police, and now reads as follows:
Her ability to visualise past and future events has led her to being called upon by police in England, Ireland and Wales, her accuracy in several murder investigations promoting senior officers to call for her psychic assistance in a number of high profile crimes.

Diane recently re-investigated the murder of twelve year old Muriel Drinkwater, a case that was closed fifty years ago. She was able to describe the child's final walk home from school, her rape and the shooting by a "friend". She identified the murderer as an old man living in Wales and police re-opened the file. DNA testing is currently being carried out.

For me, the implication is clear; Ms Lazarus wishes people to make the connection and assume that "She identified the murderer as an old man living in Wales and police re-opened the file" means that the police were acting under her guidance, and this simply is not the case. She wants perspective clients to believe that her information is so accurate that DNA evidence is required to bear this out. The whole website is a confusing mish-mash of "current" events that are scheduled any time between 2002 and 2004, apart from the front page update to declare her victory on "Britain"s Psychic Challenge". This makes it difficult to determine when "current" claims expire. However, I can find no information about a conviction in the Muriel Drinkwater case, and therefore the murderer cannot yet be classified as identified. Certainly the various police forces I have contacted all deny her claim that she has been called upon by any of them. Claiming to see a child"s last walk home is totally unverifiable storytelling, as is most information about the rape unless the real murderer is actually caught and confesses. I hope her parents were spared having to hear a tale of gruesome details, as so many psychics insist on burdening families with terrible imagery about their loved ones. Also, after 50 years, I would say that claiming the murderer is now an old man is likely to be an accurate guess.

So, as usual there is a large discrepancy between what the psychic claims their input was to a case, and what the police will claim they felt about it. The psychic makes it appear as if the case would not have been solved without them, but while the police may have followed information provided, they have done this as they would have treated information from any member of the public not claiming to have special "powers". The case was resolved in the same manner as it would have been if the psychic had never intervened; the perpetrator was betrayed by his brother, who was not influenced in any way by any actions of the psychic – so far as we can tell.