'TV psychic' jailed for sexual assaults

A "psychic" who claimed to have appeared on daytime TV has been jailed after admitting sexually assaulting two women.

The prosecution said a woman in her 20s had attended readings with John Starkey, 74, when he plied his trade in Wolverhampton and he suggested "spiritual cleansing".

Telling her to remove her clothes, he sexually assaulted her, Caernarfon Crown Court heard. Later, a holidaymaker visiting his shop in Llandudno was also sexually assaulted when she was similarly told to strip to her underwear.

Starkey, from Upper Colwyn Bay, was jailed for four years and five months, after pleading guilty to three charges.

He admitted one charge of assault on a female 13 or over with penetration between April and October 2018, and two counts of sexual assault on a female by touching related to December 2018 and October 2022.

The court heard the woman in her 20s had attended two readings with Starkey.

After sexually assaulting her in Wolverhampton, he told her she had a "gift for tarot card reading" and that he would put her in touch with a "witch".

The woman was then tricked into attending a "gathering" in London.

She said she was lured to a hotel room, and the court heard that while wearing just her pants and a coat, Starkey appeared in his boxer shorts and a robe and touched her.

She went to police in 2018 and her underwear was submitted for forensic examination. However, the Met Police appeared to have closed the investigation, prosecutor Elen Owen said.

Then in October 2022, the second woman visited Starkey's shop in Llandudno, while on holiday for a "clairvoyant consultation".

The subject of "aura cleansing" came up, the court heard, and a massage was recommended.

"She was told to strip down to her underwear," counsel said, before he sexually assaulted her. Police were then alerted.

Defence barrister Robert Fitt said Starkey had been given a life expectancy of between three and five years.

He added he had been a clairvoyant since 1969 and the offending was "very much out of character".

Judge Nicola Jones acknowledged Starkey had "significant life-limiting physical health problems".

But she said it was an abuse of trust and there was a "significant degree of planning".

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