Aliens gave me psychic powers
By Claire McNeilly
21 March 2006

Patrick King attracted newspaper headlines when he recently predicted a
huge bank robbery but he been predicting the future and telling clients
secrets from their past for more than 40 years. Claire McNeilly casts
her fate to the winds and meets the man who claims he was abducted by
aliens at the age of five

IF you have any skeletons hidden in your closet or some dark secret to
protect, you might want to stay away from Co Down clairvoyant Patrick
King. But if you'd like to know whether your partner is having an affair
or if you can really trust a friend, then maybe it might be worth a
visit to his home in Holywood ...
After all, the clinical psychologist-turned-fortune teller has been
reading his clients' minds, as well as predicting their futures, for
over 40 years.

Even an ex-girlfriend of Michael Stone, the notorious Milltown Cemetery
murderer, once popped in - Paddy, knew, he says, "because I smelt a
terrorist off her".
Then there are those who may be searching for information about a lost
loved one and, of course, a few who are looking for love ...
"People of all ages come to see me, from 15 to my oldest client, who's
97," the 58-year-old Manchester University psychology graduate reveals.
"And I have a lot of regulars. Everyone wants to know something
different. A few come purely to ask if they will be happy, but most of
them have secrets."

Indeed, once Paddy, who has one daughter, Debbie (33), consults the
tarot cards, his crystal ball, or reads your palm, he claims it can be
quite a revelation.
And sometimes, apparently, it only takes one look - when his fourth
wife-to-be Esther (52) walked in, for instance, he says: "I told her I
was going to be her husband."
Over the years, he claims to have seen some unbelievable things.

"One girl who came for a reading had killed a three-year-old child, and
a man had murdered his family and escaped justice.
"These type of people want to know if I know what they've done and if
they'll ever be found out."
Of course, among the questions every sceptic asks are: how can one
believe him? And how can he possibly know what he claims is true?
"People test me all the time," he protests. "Once a woman swallowed her
wedding ring when she tried to hide it! But if you're going to come and
try to bluff me, what's the point?"

Where, then, do these so-called revelatory powers come from?
"I don't think clairvoyance is a gift," he replies, "it's something I
work on and practise every day. My mum read tea leaves and, as a child,
she taught me the basics; it's been a learning curve since then and I've
learned from my mistakes."

One such 'mistake', if you could call it that, was his inability to
foresee a disaster for a relative who was raped in east Belfast by four
men some years ago.
"I didn't know it was going to happen," he admits, "even though I had
just left my psychology job to concentrate on fortune telling full
time."
At £25 per half hour session, his counsel isn't cheap, but there are
some who clearly think it's worth it.

"There are 26 millionaires who come to see me - they usually want to
know if the Inland Revenue is going to catch up with them," he says.
"Then there are murderers who want to know if their victim's body will
be found.
"Other people have been stealing from their employers ... and I've also
done readings for policemen, as well as members of the IRA and UDA."

If - as he claims - his access to sensitive paramilitary information at
one point led Special Branch to bug his office, he must be shouldering
the weight of withholding the truth?
"Who am I to judge?" he counters. "I don't pass on information, although
in the past I have helped the police with murder investigations."
His isn't, obviously, a job for the faint-hearted either.

"You have to be careful what you tell people. I get threats all the
time. For example, if I've told a woman her husband is having an affair
and she confronts him ..." he trails off.
"I also remember a man coming in with his wife and her sister. I did the
women's readings first and when it came to his turn I told him they were
both pregnant - by him."

Apart from treading the murky waters of human nature, there is
frequently an upside to his profession.
"Sometimes you're helping folk without them realising," he explains.
"During one reading I told a woman to insure her husband, because she
would have nothing left when he died.
"She replied that he was fighting fit, but did it anyway. A few days
later, he had a heart attack and passed away."

Reports in different publications in the past have suggested that there
could be some truth in Patrick's predictions.
"A few weeks before a triple killing in Portavogie, a woman visited me.
I saw the tragedy written in her cards and I told her," he explains.

Despite that, Elizabeth Downes died, along with her 17-year-old
daughter, Joanne, on May 3, 1992. They were both shot dead at the family
home by her husband, Stuart, who then turned the gun on himself.
So what's the point of seeing the future, if you can't change what's in
store? Especially if you diagnose yourself with throat cancer - as he
did recently ("I'm hoping to receive a date for an operation fairly
soon").

Is turning to the occult simply a question of faith - or loneliness?
"I don't believe in God. I believe in what I can see and hear; some of
which has been terrible," he says.
"Religion has been geared to keep the masses in check; if people didn't
believe in Jesus Christ, mayhem would ensue."

He adds: "I'm not close to my family (he has four brothers and five
sisters) and I don't have any friends either. Who would want to be
friends with someone who can read their mind?"
Patrick started down his chosen path after a supernatural childhood
experience.
"One night, when I was about five, I was taken away by a UFO," he says.

"I shared a room with my brother and mummy put us to bed around 8pm. The
next thing I knew it was morning ... but I remembered being in a very
bright room with several people. They were between 4ft 5ins and 5ft
tall, with big faces and big eyes. All I can say is, I came back a
clairvoyant."
Before I leave, Paddy is keen to give me an insight into what my destiny
holds.
He asks me to pick nine tarot cards, which he reads, along with my palm.

As a qualified psychologist, Patrick can no doubt pick up more than most
from appearance and body language - but I still found the experience
disconcerting.
What he told me about the future is, well, possible, that I'll meet a
gorgeous man (indeed, a pleasant change) and move to England (God help
us all).

But the revelations about a past relationship were rather shocking - if
what he says is true.
After I leave I'm in limbo for a while.
Still, without wishing to cast aspersions on Paddy's powers, or
disparage those who consult him, I can't help remembering an Albanian
proverb: there are no scarecrows in the desert.