TV psychic accused of conning bereaved families with identical 'letters from heaven'

Lillyanne’s representatives claim an administrative error meant one letter had been copied and sent to multiple customers

Mirror, UK/February 10, 2016

By Sally Hind

A psychic has been accused of conning grieving families after she had been paid to contact their dead loved ones.

Well-known medium Lillyanne sent identical 'letters from heaven' to dozens of bereaved customers.

Karen Brannigan handed £38 to Lillyanne in the hope she could contact her late mother, the Daily Record reported .

She got a letter back with a message that the psychic claimed had come from the dead woman.

But Karen found out other customers had received the same message.

She said: “I knew right away that something was wrong. It just didn’t ring true.”

Lillyanne’s representatives claim an administrative error meant one letter had been copied and sent to multiple customers.

But Karen, who lost her mum five months ago, is furious and she fears many more vulnerable people could have been ripped off.

Karen, 47, of Cambuslang, near Glasgow, said: “Lillyanne is UK-wide, she has appeared on TV and has
 thousands of followers online.

“I had been following her on Facebook for about five months.

“She did live readings where you could see people receiving them and she was getting a really good reaction.

“My mum passed away in September and I just got caught up in it. My husband thought I was mad but I just wanted to try it.”

Karen contacted Lillyanne on her Facebook page – which has more than 150,000 followers – and paid for a so-called letter from heaven.

On the psychic’s website, it says: “A letter from heaven with Lillyanne is a mediumship reading.

“She will connect with her guides and the people who are coming through to you from Spirit to pass on messages from them that only you will know.”

Karen’s letter arrived on Sunday, with vague messages about her mum loving her and a bizarre mention of someone getting their teeth whitened.

She said: “It said my mum liked yellow flowers. My mum hated flowers. There was nothing in it that stood out to me.”

Karen found out about the duplicate letters after chatting online with a woman called Sue, from Gloucestershire, who had also contacted Lillyanne for a letter from heaven after losing her mum.

Karen said: “Sue sent hers to me and it was almost identical, apart from the significant dates changed.

“When she realised, she was really upset by it. Another woman from Rutherglen told me she had received a letter as well.”

Sue, who asked to be referred to only by her first name, said: “When Karen sent me her letter, it was identical.

“I didn’t know Karen before and wouldn’t have known anything about her if she hadn’t contacted me asking about the process of receiving the letters. It has caused a lot of distress.”

Karen tried to contact Lillyanne but she was blocked from posting on her Facebook page.

She later received messages from the medium’s son and “admin manager” Ashley Flay, who apologised for the error and claimed a member of staff had been sacked over the blunder.

When the Record contacted Flay yesterday, he said it was an “isolated incident” which had affected around
 24 people. He said Lillyanne was “devastated” about the mistake.

Flay added: “Lillyanne prepares the readings and sends them on to our admin team. One of the admins has lost a whole batch of readings. She has sent the wrong thing to what I’ve found is around 24 people now. Her contract has been terminated.

“We’ve contacted the customers affected by it. It can be quite distressing, given the situation. I’m horrified.

“We were oblivious to what was going on behind our backs. I fully understand the distress it has caused.”

Karen and Sue were offered a refund and a free telephone reading – normally priced at £50 – for their distress.

Leeds-based Lillyanne – real name Paula Bairstow – claims she has been seeing spirits since she was a child.

She says she has been working as a professional medium for more than 30 years, providing readings for people across the world and working with more than 30 celebrities.

The 51-year-old appeared on Channel 4’s My Psychic Life in November, where viewers saw her hosting a seance.

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