# Debunking Psychic John Starkey **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 9, 2003, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunking-psychic-john-starkey/217944 "2003-12-09T16:11:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2019, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunking-psychic-john-starkey/217944/21 "2019-02-04T19:43:35Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Step 1: Floyd calls in to station. It’s a man answering! ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2019, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunking-psychic-john-starkey/217944/22 "2019-02-04T20:14:40Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > ]How do I address my friend’s assertion of belief? You really can’t convince someone who’s fallen hard for a “psychic” that they’ve been fooled, other than reminding them of the complex of techniques and trickery that such folk employ and seeing if it rings any bells. Ultimately you can’t instill critical thinking capacity into a person who is unreceptive to it. It’s like trying to teach a spaniel puppy to play Brahms.\* > [@](#): > > If I recall my conversations accurately after all these years, this friend took the position that “just because X psychic has been debunked, that says nothing about whether Y psychic as genuine paranormal abilities. If you’re alleging fraud, then you must prove it from scratch with each new psychic.” There are those who have the drive and energy to do this. Believers won’t care, and/or they’ll just latch onto the next “true psychic”. I’ll reiterate that I (and anyone who’s “open-minded”) would settle for the alleged psychic repeatedly demonstrating his/her abilities under controlled conditions (and not making excuses for inevitable failures). \*right now I’d settle for “Chopsticks”, or at least an end to puppy nipping. Those teeth are _sharp_. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2019, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunking-psychic-john-starkey/217944/23 "2019-02-04T20:59:39Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > If I recall my conversations accurately after all these years, this friend took the position that “just because X psychic has been debunked, that says nothing about whether Y psychic as genuine paranormal abilities. If you’re alleging fraud, then you must prove it from scratch with each new psychic.” That’s actually not an unreasonable position to take. For example, if I found my accountant was embezzling from me, it wouldn’t be reasonable to conclude that all accountants are crooked. On the other hand, if I’ve tried 5 accountants and they were all crooked, and as far as I can determine based on available evidence, everyone who’s ever used an accountant has been cheated, and there seems to be no good evidence that any accountant anywhere has ever done any good for their client, then it’s time to entertain the idea that the whole profession is a sham. At that point it’s no longer necessary to “prove it from scratch” with each individual; it’s up to the accountants and their apologists to provide some “proof” that one of them is legit. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2019, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunking-psychic-john-starkey/217944/24 "2019-02-04T21:29:09Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > It’s a man answering! :golf clap: ---
**Author:** ![TPWombat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbce88/32.png) [@TPWombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TPWombat)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunking-psychic-john-starkey/217944/25 "2019-02-07T08:44:39Z")
> [@Zyada](#): > > I recommend “Blood Lite” with no reservations - it’s an anthology of humorous horror stories, many of which are absolute gems. “The Ungrateful Dead” works very well as a standalone story in this book. > “No Humans Involved” is also good, but is the 7th book in a series called “Women of the Underworld”, and doesn’t stand on it’s on as well as “The Ungrateful Dead” does. Thanks, I’ve ordered Blood Lite. I see there’s 2 more anthologies in the series. ---
**Author:** ![Mystic.Gypsy.Bok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Mystic.Gypsy.Bok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mystic.Gypsy.Bok)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunking-psychic-john-starkey/217944/26 "2026-04-10T14:51:41Z")
I realise this is an older post but just to ask that no woman goes alone to see John Starkey and DEFINITELY DO NOT leave a young girl of ANY AGE with him. John Starkey has admitted sexually assaulting a female. He has admitted sexually assaulting by penetration of a female AGED 13 or older. I don’t believe this freakish creature who cannot see into the future. He uses techniques that the famous showman P T Barnum used. It’s known as cold reading and hot reading. The man is a freak, a fraud, a sexual predator. So far this bastard has admitted the two charges mentioned above. With sadness, I’m sure there will be many more. He’s due to be sentenced on April 30th 2026. He was told to expect a custodial sentence. Let’s hope it’s a long one where he will live in fear like his victims have. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunking-psychic-john-starkey/217944/27 "2026-04-10T21:55:25Z")
who would have thought? ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunking-psychic-john-starkey/217944/28 "2026-04-10T23:45:15Z")
Never mind, zombie. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2026, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunking-psychic-john-starkey/217944/29 "2026-04-11T03:07:09Z")
Proof of an afterlife!! ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2026, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunking-psychic-john-starkey/217944/30 "2026-04-11T04:54:04Z")
Cite for the new poster’s info: > **[Wolverhampton 'psychic' admits sex assaults on two women](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj3751rjkpjo)** > > John Starkey, who works in Wolverhampton, pleads guilty to three sexual offences. [MSN article](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/psychic-admits-sex-assaults-on-two-women/ar-AA1YZkkY) in case the above goes behind a paywall for non-UK residents. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2026, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunking-psychic-john-starkey/217944/31 "2026-04-13T02:59:54Z")
> [@Zyada](#): > > Jaime Vegas works as a psychic who does shows where she speaks to the dead loved ones of audience members. That was a garden path sentence for me. I started out reading: /xajme/ Vegas works as a psychic who does shows where he… no, she… crap, let me start over: /dʒeɪmiː/ Vegas works as a psychic who does shows where she etc. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2026, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunking-psychic-john-starkey/217944/32 "2026-04-13T03:32:47Z")
Would you consider him to be a bad egg among otherwise real psychics, or is he to be avoided along with all the others, only more so? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2026, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunking-psychic-john-starkey/217944/33 "2026-04-13T03:49:00Z")
Perhaps due to you priming me with “garden path sentence”, I initially read “does shows” as two verbs and an error, and had to go back and reread. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunking-psychic-john-starkey/217944.md?page=1)