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Half truths and real truth about James Byrne
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 UNITED KINGDOM. Is the monthly Spiritualist newspaper Psychic World deliberately trying to hide the truth about medium James Byrne’s recent spiritual somersaults? Its February edition carries a story claiming to be “The real truth about James Byrne” yet it doesn’t begin to reveal the dramatic claims, denials and changes of mind that have characterised the once top-rated medium’s recent behaviour (reported exclusively on www.ParanormalReview.com).
We don’t suppose that Byrne’s decision to become a regular columnist for the newspaper has anything to do with it! But a letter from Roy Stemman is on its way to the Editor, Ray Taylor, putting the record straight. Here’s what it says:
Dear Ray
The whole truth and nothing but the truth?
The headline on your front page story (Feb 07) – “The real truth about James Byrne” – is incredibly misleading, as any of your readers who have also visited my website (www.ParanormalReview.com) will know only too well.
The use of the word “real” implies that all other published reports about Byrne – particularly my most recent, titled “James Byrne decides to tell the truth” – were either untruthful or not the complete truth.
Yet you fail to tell your readers precisely what those reports were, and where they were in error (if they were). The only new thing you have to report is that James Byrne is to start writing a regular column on healing for you.
Even one of your other columnists, Gary Dakin (Jan 07), referring briefly to the reports carried on my website, revealed that Byrne, in a phone conversation, had described my report as “rubbish”. But since Byrne had also denied saying to him he was a born again Christian in a previous phone call 18 months earlier, Dakin was understandably “confused”.
As the author of three stories about James Byrne’s strange behaviour on my website, let me put the record straight once and for all – and remember, Byrne has confirmed to me the accuracy of all these statements:
1. After recording an “independent” voice on tape during a sitting, which appeared to emanate from an evil spirit – as you reported – Byrne decided to stop giving sittings.
2. Byrne was persuaded by well-known show business people that he should abandon Spiritualism and stop practising as a medium.
3. He also decided to embark on a crusade (according to pre-lecture publicity he gave to a group called “Sceptics in the Pub”) and arranged to give them a talk entitled, “Why I’m So Against Psychics”. Describing himself as “the UK’s number one critic of all psychics” he promised to explain why “having worked as a psychic for 30 years at the highest level, [I] now believe it is not only morally wrong, but what psychics do you can train anyone to do in a matter of days and earn at least £400 a week with ease.” He pulled out of the lecture in advance.
4. But he soon went public with his decision to abandon Spiritualism and mediumship in his local newspaper (The Chorley Citizen) when they interviewed him about his plan to set up a Christian Healing Church in a village hall in Wheelton, Lancashire. He explained this change of direction in his spiritual beliefs by saying he had been deluding himself and others, as a medium. He removed all references to his mediumistic work from his website, inviting visitors instead to “join us in glorious worship” at the village hall.
5. Two weeks later, he decided he had made a big mistake and closed the healing church.
6. He then decided to resume his mediumistic career, and to try to save face he dismissed the local newspaper acount, saying the report had misquoted him. Unfortunately for Byrne, I had spoken to him by phone on the day after the report was published and he confirmed that he had given up Spiritualism.
7. Eventually, when I challenged him on this and reminded him of the “Sceptics in the Pub” talk he had intended to give, James Byrne confessed that he had said what I reported him as saying, and he apologised to the journalist concerned, Gordon McCully, for claiming otherwise.
I posted my report of that admission on my website on 9 November and commented that I would have expected him to apologise, too, to the many people who sought help from spirit communication during his career who would have been extremely upset and confused by his announcement that he had been deluding himself and others.
From what I know of James Byrne – we have never met – he appears to be a gifted individual with the potential of helping a lot of people. That he has been through a very difficult and confusing period in his life is beyond question, but the way he handled that situation does raise questions about his reliability and judgment on some matters.
I hope that he can rebuild his career and continue helping people through his mediumship and healing, and that his contributions to your newspaper will reflect greater consistency than he had shown of late.
As someone who has been reporting on Spiritualism and the paranormal for over 40 years, I believe that giving the facts and reporting events accurately, however uncomfortable they may be for the individuals concerned, is the only way that we can arrive at the truth.
Sadly, on this occasion, I feel that Psychic World’s report on James Byrne’s recent difficulties was a half truth masquerading as “the real truth” and was not up to the standards we should expect from the Spiritualist press.
Roy Stemman, Editor, www.ParanormalReview.com
OUR PREVIOUS STORIES ON JAMES BYRNE CAN BE VIEWED HERE:
Top medium quits saying, ‘I was deluded’
James Byrne explains everything ... or does he?
James Byrne decides to tell the truth
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Posted on Monday, February 05, 2007
Category: Mediumship
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