Deadline News UK: Corporate Team Clears Haunted House After Two Exorcisms by Minister Fail (Dalkeith, Scotland)

Real-life Ghostbusters have succeeded in banishing unwanted ghosts from a tormented Scots mum’s home.

After two failed attempts by a Church of Scotland minister to rid single mum Vicky Dann’s Dalkeith home of spooks, a team of Orpheus Group consultants stepped in to finish the job.

Ms. Dann, (40), today spoke of her relief after investigators managed to identify the mystery ghost and send him packing.


Vicky Dann says after the first blessing the hauntings got worse

Vicky claims she and daughters Jenna, 18, and Emma, 11, started seeing spooky apparitions and orbs of light two years ago, and have hundreds of photos to prove it.

She said Emma would regularly see a man in black disappear down the hall.

Vicky said her daughter’s lives had been turned upside down by the hauntings, with her youngest missing school, and all three sleeping together in the living room.

Apologising

Church of Scotland Minister, Keith Mack, had performed two blessings at her home, but Ms. Dann said this had only made the problem worse.


Vicky and her daughters had resorted to sleeping in the living room

Orpheus investigators spent two nights last week assessing the haunted house before sending in their expert medium, Chet Mason, who identified the spook as Thomas Laidlaw, a soldier who died in Iraq in 2009.

Vicky explained: “He was a wandering spirit who had got lost, he was dressed in war time clothing and kept apologising, saying he was lost and didn’t want to harm us.”

The ghost-busting squad also discovered that Vicky’s house had been built over a mass-grave of dead women and children.

Vicky said: “They think it could be a plague pit. It is really chilling but I am just glad it has all ended now.”

Vicky said she was amazed by the ghost-busting squad’s efforts and felt like the spooks had gone for good.

Different

She said: “It is really amazing, it has completely done the trick.” After the second visit from the Church of Scotland Minister, the problem just got worse. “It was so bad that we could hear loud banging all day and me and girls were sleeping together in the living room.

“It has been a massive relief to get rid of the ghosts. It’s like a totally different house now.”

Vicky said her daughters had missed school and college due to suffering from sleep deprivation.

She said: “Emma is back at school now and Jenna is back at college. It’s like we can finally start to get our life back on track.”

Chet Mason, who provided Orpheus Group's service free of charge, said he was happy that Vicky and her family could finally be at peace. “My team and I are very glad to help Private Laidlaw, Ms. Dann, and her family. There was a lot of anguish in this house.”

Mason said he feared he might have to “fumigate” the house, which involves the medium going into a trance and removing the spirit by force. “I am glad we managed to sort it all out.”

Members of the team had earlier set up trigger objects such as infrared video cameras and voice recorders to try to pick up any activity.

Educate

Orpheus Group investigator Kate Dennison said: “It is not unusual in these cases for nothing to be picked up. Post-life entities don’t appear on request -- the more self-aware ones might even go into hiding when we come knocking. Thanks to Chet's military background, he was able to establish a better rapport with Private Laidlaw.”


Vicky says her Dalkeith home is now back to normal

Vicky added: “The investigators did warn me that it was common for the problem to get worse before it gets better -- say, if the ghost gets confused or upset -- but since they helped me out my house has gone back to normal. I was such a sceptic before all this happened. If someone had told me their house was haunted I would have thought they were off their head and called them a liar.

“A lot of people have teased me and said I was being ridiculous, but when it happens to you, you have to believe. My family’s life was turned upside down and now we can finally get on and live our lives.”

Mason and Dennison's team, one of the larger ones employed by Orpheus Group, was assembled in 2009 and currently has eight full time members, Kate explained: “People have real problems that defy conventional explanation. They need somewhere they can go for help, somewhere that people won’t laugh at them and will take them seriously.

“I am delighted that we were able to help Vicky and that she says she is finally at peace in her home.”