TV psychic Sally Morgan is demanding damages of £150,000 from Associated Newspapers over a Daily Mail story accusing her of scamming a vulnerable audience.
The article, published on 22 September, was headlined: ‘What a load of crystal balls!”
It alleged Morgan pretended to have psychic powers when she was in fact simply repeating instructions from members of her team via a microphone and hidden earpiece, according to a writ lodge at the High Court.
Morgan, who was Princess Diana’s former psychic, claims the story caused substantial damage to her reputation, as well as hurt, distress and embarrassment.
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The story was widely reported in the national press at the time but Associated Newspapers is the only publisher named on the writ. The story in question was an opinion piece by the magician and former psychic Paul Zenon.
The Daily Mail published another article on the same day – headlined ‘Only the lonely believe in ghoulish psychics’– which repeated the substance of the allegations, according to a High Court writ.
Morgan, who is also suing over an online version of the story, claims the paper has failed to provide a full and unequivocal apology or admit the article was defamatory.
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She is asking for an injunction banning repetition of the allegations about her.
She is also seeking aggravated damages, citing the serious and offensive nature of the allegations which effectively accused her of perpetrating a deliberate fraud on the public, which struck at the heart of her professional and personal reputation, integrity and honesty – the writ states.
In her High Court writ Morgan describes herself as a professional psychic and claims to have privately helped numerous people overcome traumatic or emotional situations.
Morgan is represented by Graham Atkins of Atkins Thomson.
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