John Morgan and Daren Wiltshear are the husband and son-in-law of Sally Morgan, sometimes known as Psychic Sally.
These two clowns recently appeared in a secretly-filmed video, where Morgan threatened a skeptic, Mark Tilbrook, with physical violence and even with disappearance. Even though Tilbrook isn’t gay, the two goons still thought it would be a good idea to use savagely homophobic language while threatening him.
Sounding like a bad actor from Eastenders, John Morgan bellows at Tilbrook,
One day you’re going to be lifted, and you’ll disappear somewhere.
You’re a poof as well, we know all about your life.
You know, you look pale. Are you on drugs or has someone shagged you too much? One of your boyfriends been up your arse?
You’re a fairly little gay man. Little gayboy you are.
Charming, but what was Tilbrook’s offence?
He was standing on the public footpath outside a theatre, offering leaflets to people attending Sally’s shows. The leaflets give guidance on how to tell if a person is a genuine psychic or not, while being careful not to accuse Sally of being a fraud. Sally and her team (which presumably consists of the two clowns in the video) have been very fond of issuing legal threats in the past, accusing skeptics of defamation.
In other words, if you think the dead are simply dead, if you don’t accept the notion of an afterlife and if you say so publicly, then you’ve defamed Sally Morgan. It’s as if a priest sued you for saying God doesn’t exist.
Ka-ching!
It works, apparently.
As Morgan points out to Mark Tilbrook in the video, they’ve already taken money from the Press.
You’re a soppy little man, because all that crap there, we won half a million pounds off the Daily Mail.
What the two clowns didn’t know, and what Sally failed to predict, was that, after an unnerving encounter with them on the first night, Tilbrook would return and record the behaviour of her management team so that everyone could see for themselves precisely what sort of people run the Sally Morgan business.
Why, you might wonder, was Mark Tilbrook standing outside a theatre handing out leaflets?
Simple. The people who go to psychic shows are very often vulnerable, suffering from bereavement, and open to exploitation. They want to believe that somehow, a trace of their loved-one remains, even though reason must surely tell them that the person is dead and gone. People like Nicola Tait, for instance.
While taking part in a cycling challenge, Nicola Tait’s boyfriend Kris Cook died of a heart attack. The incident was reported nationwide, but a month later in Woking, Kris Cook’s home town, Sally claimed to be hearing from a man wearing Lycra cycling shorts whose first name started with K. Sally also claimed to be hearing the name Nicola, but later denied learning these details in the media. Nicola Tait was deeply distressed by Sally’s performance.
On another occasion, Sally accidentally contacted the living when a woman in Middlesbrough failed to understand the premise of the show. After a few awkward moments while Sally carried on a conversation with the dead, a woman finally stood up and explained that she had handed in a photo of herself. Sally was laughed off the stage.
This is the leaflet Mark Tilbrook handed out. It gives guidance on how to spot a fake psychic, though he was careful not to suggest that Sally isn’t really talking to the dead.
It’s all very rational and simple. Protect yourself against frauds, cheats and chancers by applying these very simple tests. Who could take offence at that? Well, John Morgan could, for one.
… I’m gonna knock you out sooner or later, so fuck off before I do you.
Of course, since the dead are actually dead, it’s hard to know who Sally might be talking to, but the intimidation continued for months with Sally Morgan’s lawyers threatening all sorts of defamation actions against Tilbrook, who was genuinely scared, since he’s not the sort of man who’s used to that kind of thing. And even though the leaflet contained nothing defamatory, he found the threat of it hanging over his head very hard to bear.
Luckily, he found support from the Good Thinking Society, run by among others, Simon Singh (or that Muslimer one, the Asian bloke, as Morgan ignorantly and stupidly refers to him in the video). Simon Singh was himself the subject of attempted legal intimidation by the British Chiropractic Association, and knows all about vested interests trying to silence rational questions. He won.
Sally seems to have backed off the legal threats now, no doubt due to the fear that she would be publicly humiliated should the matter ever go to court. She might be asked, for instance, to demonstrate her gifts to the satisfaction of the court, or she might be asked why she declined to claim a million dollars by passing a simple test based on her own shows and devised by Professor Chris French, Simon Singh, and the James Randi Educational Foundation. All she had to do was look at some photos and make accurate statements about them, but instead of accepting such a simple challenge, she instead threatened legal proceedings against Simon Singh.
Perhaps a clue lies in the calculation that Sally makes five million every year by talking to the dead, even though the dead are completely dead and in no position to talk to Sally even if they wanted to.
On publication of the video, Sally issued the following statement, which is slightly incoherent and reads as if it was written by somebody with an incomplete grasp of the English language. You might think a multi-millionaire could afford to hire somebody with a basic understanding of the written word to draft public statements. The comments in boldface are my own.
Sally Morgan Enterprises would like to apologise for any offence caused by the material. Since April 2014, Mark Tilbrook has targeted attended Sally Morgan’s live performances; handing out leaflets to audience members. On several occasions theatre staff have had to call called the police in order to get him removed. Did the police remove him?
Given the abuse unwelcome scrutiny Sally has endured over the past three years, which have included severe death threats and incidences of stalking evidence required please ; Sally was left fearing for her own safety once again. Is Sally making the defamatory suggestion that Mark Tilbrook put her in fear of her life?
Due to the continual presence of Mark Tilbrook and John Morgan’s ever-growing concern for Sally, he reacted angrily and out of character by issuing violent threats and exposing his dislike of homosexuals.
Sally was not aware of the comments made in this video despite being a psychic. She is very upset by the events, does not condone any of the behaviour and can only assume that this was the cause of caused by? persistent hounding John Morgan’s rage at Mark Tilbrook’s lawful presence in the public street that lead (sic) to this altercation verbal assault.
Although the Psychic Awareness month hosted by Good Thinking Society has come to light in recent weeks, the original leaflet given out by Mark Tilbrook contained different information provide evidence please which both Sally and SME felt decided made targeted references to her and not psychics in general, hence why (sic) legal advice has been taken. About John Morgan’s threats of violence or about Mark Tilbrook’s lawful distribution of leaflets?
That was then, and this is now. Back to the present. After deep and thorough reflection, no doubt having conferred with the spirit world, Sally has now issued another public statement.
Here it is in its entirety.
Today Sally Morgan made a firm decision to sack her husband John Morgan and Son in Law Daren Wiltshear after recent video footage shows them using violent and threatening behaviour.
As of today John Morgan no longer holds his position as Sally’s Personal Manager and Daren Wiltshear no longer holds the position of Tour Manager. Both John and Daren will have nothing more to do with Sally Morgan’s business, including her live shows, which they will no longer be attending.
Sally Morgan added “I have come from a family background that has always been very accepting, many of my friends are gay and I have always felt happy that I am often referred to as a gay icon through my work. I am utterly ashamed and devastated at the behaviour of my husband John and Son in Law Daren and neither of them will have anything to do with my work, my business and right now I honestly have no idea what is going to happen to my marriage”.
There will be many more important decisions being made over the course of this week.
So there you have it. John’s gone and Daren is out of a job, or so we’re invited to believe. No doubt things will be a little tense around the Morgan household for a while, but Psychic Sally has no idea what’s going to happen. This is is a pity since there must be an army of dead people queueing up to offer her advice.
I can see a man. A violent man. A bad man. I can see the letters DD. Is it, is it, wait, it’s getting clearer now. Well blow me down, if it ain’t Dirty Den. ‘Allo darlin. You look like a ghost, innit?
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So far, Sally, John and Daren have failed to apologise to Mark Tilbrook for the threats against him and to gay people in general for John Morgan’s hateful outburst against homosexuals. This probably says more about the Psychic Sally business machine than any public statement they might issue.
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UPDATE 14th October 2014
Mark Tilbrook’s lawyer has written to Sally Morgan demanding correction of the incorrect statements highlighted above.
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Previously on BTR
Sally Morgan, Psychic, Challenged To Put Up or Shut Up
Also:
Psychic Awareness Month
Derren Brown: Testing Psychics
