ASSAP ~ The Final Curtain

"The matter has reached a satisfactory outcome, and is now closed." - Seán Manchester

"Impartial" ASSAP Bans Bishop

"Given the final vote:

12 to remove, 4 to keep, 2 abstain......

I have removed Sean Manchester from this page."

— Robert Moore (ASSAP)

That's a mere twelve votes, naturally including Farrant and his cronies, eg Redmond McWilliams, and, of course, Barbara Green, voting for Seán Manchester's ban out of a total membership of 2,023.

The vote was held on a completely obscure thread started by Barbara Green, ostensibly to discuss vampires and hauntings, that was mostly dominated by trouble-makers, trolls and time-wasters.

The Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena (ASSAP) is a registered charity, and as such is obliged to be impartial and not show bias for or against any contributor or member.

Is that reflectd by Robert Moore's supposedly "democratic" vote on Barbara Green's thread where a mere twelve people out of two thousand and twenty-three members decided the ban? How many members were even aware that he was carrying out this kangaroo court which lasted a few hours?

A thread for the explicit purpose of voting over a reasonable period should have been created, if it was felt necessary. But was it necessary? Why, indeed, is Robert Moore demonstrating such partiality? Those who were posting material to the extreme detriment of Seán Manchester before he joined, continued to do so while he was briefly a member, and no doubt will continue to do so now he has been summarily banned. However, let's examine the spurious reasons offered for the ban.

Robert Moore says that Seán Manchester was too keen to implement DMCA notices. In fact, Seán Manchester only exercised his legal right once where the ASSAP is concerned, and that was on a newly created ASSAP page supposedly dedicated to the Highgate Vampire. Robert Moore linked to a page on Trystan Lewis Swale's website that had nothing to do with the Highgate Vampire, or indeed anything else remotely paranormal. The hot link caused an image to appear from that page which is Seán Manchester's copyright. The page itself is designed to incite hatred against Seán Manchester.

Robert Moore claims Seán Manchester does this "when arguments don't go his way." It was done once, and Seán Manchester wasn't having an argument because he contributed nothing whatsoever to the page. The reason it was done is because the image linked to inflammatory defamation.

Moore said he had received two serious complaints about "protracted harassment campaigns," but was unwilling to identify from whom, or indeed any evidence of any harassment campaign. We can reveal that the complainant is Redmond McWilliams who is one of the worst offenders when it comes to trolling and stalking Seán Manchester. McWilliams, a lackey of David Farrant, is the one who has been waging a relentless harassment campaign against Seán Manchester, both on and off the group.

Moore alleges that "it came to the point that we were unable to discuss any aspect of his work due to his very liberal use of such threats." Once again, Robert Moore offers no evidence to support this claim. Seán Manchester exercised his right only when hateful material that had nothing to do with any ASSAP discussion was linked by Robert Moore to a Highgate Vampire page on which Seán Manchester was not even present. The malice could have put Seán Manchester in some danger due to its extreme nature. That is the only time a DMCA was activated against Robert Moore and the ASSAP. There was also a minor incident where Barbara Green uploaded a group photograph that was not her copyright, which included Seán Manchester's wife. The photograph was gratuitous and unnecessary. Seán Manchester advised her that it was not her copyright, but she failed to remove it.

Bearing in mind the constant libel against Seán Manchester being published by David Farrant, Patsy Sorenti, Redmond McWilliams and others of that ilk on the ASSAP, was the ban really justified?

Robert Moore has suggested that Seán Manchester's refusal to unblock known trolls like McWilliams, Hogg and Swale contributed to the ban. Yet Moore knows that other members have blocked numerous people (who are also members). For example, Angie Mary Watkins is blocked by Redmond McWilliams. Seán Manchester is blocked by David Farrant, and so on and so forth. Seán Manchester is very much aware that the trolls he has blocked can all view his comments because they employ fake "sockpuppet" accounts on Facebook, but what they cannot do is integrate their comments with his. Thus the trolling is minimised, and he was able to have a voice. Though no longer because Robert Moore sympathises with these elements and has more in common with them than he does with Seán Manchester. Banning him, however, brings its own problems for the ASSAP.

The Charity Commission have advised Seán Manchester to contact the Trustees of the ASSAP over their charity being in breach of their non-negotiable impartiality rule. He contacted Robert Moore privately and requested the names of the Trustees. Moore ignored his request. Then he reiterated the request on the ASSAP group shortly before he was banned. Still his request was ignored. It would seem that certain individuals in the ASSAP, and Robert Moore is one of them, think this will go away now that the independent voice of the bishop has been silenced on their FB group. Huge mistake!  

Farrant's Mug ~ Sorenti's Sour Grapes

 

Farrant would be mortified if he was ignored. He craves attention. Robert Moore (ASSAP) obliges. This grey and pathetic figure (seen below wearing his "Bishop Bonkers" T-shirts) is only offended if he is treated as the irrelevant publicity-seeking clown he is. Those who give Farrant credit and take him even remotely seriously must themselves be regarded with suspicion, and are best avoided.

"Re. the mugs Robert [Moore]: really no need to be 'sorry'! I am the main character reproduced on them and I am not offended. In fact, I feel almost flattered by peoples' interest, though certainly not offended." — David Farrant

"This merchandise is aimed at mocking me, not Farrant. The wording on the various items is 'Bishop Bonkers,' not 'Faker Farrant.' Why would Farrant be offended by the mugs, cups, T-shirts, comics or any of the other puerile products he disseminates from his home?" — Seán Manchester

Green Onions

Seán Manchester says:

I have had no contact with Barbara Green down the years until last week when she applied to join a group that I help to administrate. The last time I heard from her was a handful of years back when she sent me a non-religious Christmas card on which she had drawn with biro a dagger in the hand of Santa Claus stabbing a snowman. This was not long after she had converted to Catholicism. I found it odd, to say the least, and did not reciprocate.

Despite having nothing to do with Barbara Green, I have nonetheless regularly been on the receiving end of her pet obsessions. These range from "nourishing broth" to "naked ceremonies" to "Lady Armytage" to "David Hepworth" (whom she quaintly calls "Liberace") and, more recently, to "Roy Barclay."

Barbara Green has it completely wrong over her "nourishing broth" and "naked ceremony" obsessions, but once she has something lodged in her head, even when the facts have been put before her in black and white, she will not budge an inch. This intransigence is part of the problem, but there must be other issues that go far deeper and are personal to her, but, of course, not me. That notwithstanding, I have become her target for reasons that I cannot fathom; reasons that are probably now lost in the darkness of the absurd. I only know that in the beginning I tried to help Barbara Green, as I try to help most people, and she rewarded that act with disloyalty and treachery by throwing in her lot with Farrant.

She has taken of late to addressing me intimately by my first name, something she has never done in the past, not even when we were first acquainted and on quite amicable terms. She is emulating Hogg, Swale and McWilliams in that regard, who exercise the same familiarity in the mistaken belief that it will somehow diminish me. In fact, it diminishes them. They are seen as being petty, puerile and contemptible. Yet Barbara Green does it all the same because she likes to run with the pack who have the mentality of a lynch mob. She was never more in her element than when she joined in with Farrant's baying mob of miscreants.

Now even they have deserted her because of her unstable and unpredictable behaviour towards people, especially her friends.

There remains, of course, the unanswered question. The one she refuses to answer despite having answered questions put to her by Hogg and others of that clique who troll and stalk me.

Bearing in mind that I have had nothing to do with Barbara Green for many years, why does she still want to constantly mention me by name on the internet, insult and offend me, misrepresent me, and publish blasphemous and derogatory cartoons, even to the extent of wanting to seek consent from the cartoonist who has long since quit the feuds she so obviously desires to reignite?

Barbara Green' paranoia knows no bounds. Another principal obsession, someone she refers to as "Liberarchie" [sic] (I suspect she actually means Liberace), a man by the name of David Hepworth, who lives not far from Barbara Green in West Yorkshire. He is someone I do not know and have never met. There was some sort contretemps approximately a decade back when he was bad-mouthing me for reasons lost in the darkness of the absurd, which I am insufficiently interested in to even begin to remember all these years later. I chose to ignore this curious individual and he eventually went away, taking his peculiar notions about me with him. Soon afterwards there was one hell of a kerfuffle over something he had written detrimental to Barbara Green that became public. The exact circumstances of what it was and all the accompanying minutiae escapes me. It is surely comparable to watching paint dry in slow motion. What is indisputable is that it has absolutely nothing to do with me, and the only person still obsessed by it all is Barbara Green.

Sorenti Squirms And Turns Silly Over Salacious Libel Allegations

Resorting to abject asininity, Sorenti today claimed that if her unsubstantiated allegations about a fabricated 8mm film were tested in the law courts, Seán Manchester would have to "prove that the vampire existed and that [he] staked it." Really? Has she completely taken leave of her senses?!! 

Sorenti Speaks ~ Then It's Roger And Out!

"I am still waiting for Patsy Sorenti (née Langley) to produce her 'evidence'." — Seán Manchester

"My friend told me that he had seen the film back in the late 1960's, when said friend was a student in London and became one of [Seán] Manchester's 'set.' Quite independently from [David] Farrant, this was. Friend told me that he ([ Seán] Manchester) had invited a small gathering of people to watch this film, which was in colour but had no sound. It was called 'The Vampire Exhumed' and [Seán] Manchester was playing the vampire and the vampire hunter. His girlfriend played the victim of said vampire and it was shot in Highgate Cemetery. At the end, there was footage of [Seán] Manchester and girlfriend having sex, but that was quickly turned off. Friend was impressed with the special effects, and asked how it was done. [Seán] Manchester then told friend how he did it, with flour paste, a fan and time lapse photography." — Patsy Sorenti (née Langley), ASSAP forum.

"As previously stated, I wrote a manuscript titled 'The Vampire Exhumed' in the late 1970s. This unpublished manuscript was the inspiration (at least, its title was) for a professional French art house film alluded to in a 1982 Time Out article. I was involved in that film which manifested almost quarter of a century after the bogus 8mm film that Farrant, and now Sorenti, have been falsely harping on about." — Seán Manchester, ASSAP forum.

"What's more, my informant told me that at the end of the film, there is a piece of footage showing [Seán] Manchester and Jacqueline in the throes of coital relations. ... Like I said, I am quite happy to disclose my contact re: the film if [Seán] Manchester were to unblock me." — Patsy Sorenti (née Langley), ASSAP forum.

"He has blocked me Anthony [Hogg]. He might say he hasn't but he has. He isn't exactly an ingenue when it comes to fibbing." — Patsy Sorenti (née Langley), ASSAP forum.

"Patsy Sorenti seems completely unaware that the word 'ingénue' applies only to a woman; indeed, to a young woman who has little experience and is very trusting. That safely rules us both out. But enough of the English lesson. A way of proving that I have not blocked Patsy Sorenti is for her to start posting on this thread." — Seán Manchester, ASSAP forum.

On September 12th, Patsy Sorenti began posting comments on Seán Manchester's thread:

"I told you before, I WILL NOT PUBLISH NAMES ON PUBLIC BOARDS OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE NO ASSOCIATION WITH THE GROUP. PERIOD. For those who don't like that - tough."

Within an hour, Seán Manchester had responded with the following suggestion based on her promise:

"What is preventing you from sending 'information' by private message, as promised? Then we can begin the procedure of examination and investigation. Or do you only want to spread salacious gossip, originating with Farrant, where all and sundry are able to read it? I have been libelled by both you and Farrant. The onus is on you to substantiate what you have said. Alternatively, you should withdraw what you have alleged and apologise to all those whom you have named."

Patsy Sorenti then exploded (for the final time on this topic) with the following statement:

"I can substantiate EVERY WORD. I have all my evidence here and No, why should I apologise? I haven't named anyone--yet!"

However, a little over thirteen months earlier she did name somebody, and she provided a forename. 

Click on the image of Sorenti at the top of the page. It will link to a video. Seven minutes into the video we hear this so-called "secretary" of Farrant's non-existent "British Psychic and Occult Society" (a name he cooked up circa 1983) talking to an audience above a pub in Highgate Village on 19 July 2015. She was rather more forthcoming than she is now. This is what she claimed:

"About 2003 to 2004, when I began researching this case, I had a friend, I still have him, I still know him. His name is Roger [surname bleeped out on the video], and he is a computer scientist. In the 1960s [when Patricia Langley herself was a very young child; she was barely ten when the case first hit the headlines in the following decade], he was studying computer science at the University of London and my friend Roger was into the vampire scene, the vampire sphere. And the sphere, the whole paranormal was something he was into and is still into. And he came into contact with Mr Manchester and became a good friend of his. And Roger, in 2004, told me when I was researching, 'Do you know about the film that was made?' And I said, 'Well, I know of it. Can you tell me about it?' And he said, 'Well, yeah, I can tell you about it because he invited me and a few other students that were studying at the University of London to go to a screening at his house one Saturday evening and this Jacqueline was there laying on a few nibbles, and drinks and things, and they settled down to watch this film, The Vampire Exhumed. And this Vampire Exhumed was the story of a vampire hunter who chases out a vampire, seeks out a vampire, in Highgate Cemetery. Made in colour, but it had no sound. It was full colour, but it didn't have any sound. [Seán] Manchester on film was playing both the vampire hunter and the vampire. And so I said, 'Well, this is the second independent case of the film actually having been seen by someone other than David [Farrant]  who saw it with others, and for which [Seán] Manchester categorically denied it. And Roger then revealed some quite good technical details about the film. He said, or he offered to me, details about the decaying scene of the vampire. What it was, [Seán] Manchester covered himself in flour, wet flour on his face, let it dry and after a little while it dried and fans were used and a hot breeze was used to blow the flour from his face so it looked as if his skin and the muscles and everything of the vampire's face and body was disintegrating. And I knew at that time [Seán] Manchester was a very good photographer. Very adept in technical effects of this kind. And Roger told me that this is how the effects of the vampire decomposing were achieved."

This is the steadily metamorphosing account that owes its origin entirely to David Farrant who has even claimed that images of the vampire corpse in The Highgate Vampire book were taken from this non-existent film. "Roger," of course, will never come forward to be identified because he does not exist. Langley claims that she "knew at that time" that Seán Manchester was "a very good photographer" and "very adept in technical effects of this kind." In fact, Seán Manchester was a portrait photographer with his own studio and a permanent staff of five people, but he did not have any expertise in ciné film, much less technical effects using ciné film. How would Sorenti know such a thing? She would have been barely a seven-year-old at the time. Farrant is her exclusive source.

"When I put this to [Seán] Manchester in my research - it wasn't just David [Farrant] I interviewed, I did eventually ask for an interview with [Seán] Manchester and I did put these points to him in 2004 - not only did he categorically deny that this film exists, existed, but [he] told me I was all wrong, a complete liar, that I was a member of Farrant's evil cabal, and so on."

In actual fact, Seán Manchester has never spoken to Patsy Sorenti, and has never discussed anything to do with the Highgate Vampire case with her. She did not interview him. It is all fabricated.

Patsy Sorenti had promised in a comment on Seán Manchester's thread on the ASSAP forum:

"When you message me, I will tell you."

Seán Manchester messaged her, and as can be seen below, Sorenti did not respond. She has still not responded. Her libellous allegations are spawned from Farrant, and have been exposed as lies.

Two more nails in the coffin of defamatory allegations made by this odious pair are Farrant naming Tony Hill and Jacqueline (Seán Manchester's girlfriend at the time) being part of the supposed gathering. Hill, of course, was living two hundred miles away in Devon (with the barmaid he had run off with) during the time-frame alleged by Farrant. And, of course, both will hotly deny the allegations.

Farrant Falsehood Perpetuated By Patsy Sorenti (née Langley)

Sorenti's Allegation:

"My friend told me that he had seen the film back in the late 1960's, when said friend was a student in London and became one of Mr Manchester's 'set.' Quite independently from [David] Farrant, this was. Friend told me that he (Mr Manchester) had invited a small gathering of people to watch this film, which was in colour but had no sound. It was called 'The Vampire Exhumed' and Mr Manchester was playing the vampire and the vampire hunter. His girlfriend played the victim of said vampire and it was shot in Highgate Cemetery. At the end, there was footage of Mr Manchester and girlfriend having sex, but that was quickly turned off. Friend was impressed with the special effects, and asked how it was done. Mr Manchester then told friend how he did it, with flour paste, a fan and time lapse photography." — Patsy Sorenti (née Langley)

Farrant's Allegation:

"I’m sorry everyone, but I really can’t stand by in silence and watch Patsy’s name shamelessly blackened by this fraudulent ‘cleric’. Patsy is the Secretary of the British Psychic and Occult Society and as its President I have a duty to protect her name against such untrue slurs. So here are the facts: It IS true that Mr Sean Manchester made a home-made ‘vampire film’ in 1968/9 whose location was supposedly Highgate Cemetery. He made this film with his long term friend Mr Tony Hill and it had no sound but was in colour The film was made on 8mm film and starred Mr Manchester himself as a ‘vampire hunter’, and he also played the role of a ‘decomposing vampire’. I myself was present at the showing of this film as was Mr Hill and his late wife Zibby. Another person who ‘starred’ in this film was Jacqueline [SURNAME DELETED] who was, at the time, the live-in girlfriend of Mr Manchester’s. It has just been stated on here that this film was an ‘in-house’ production, but this particular film was made some ten years later in Paris. This film was of Gothic genre and was made by the French actress Sylvaine Charlet who was assisted by her partner Guy. Both of these people live (or lived) in Paris. Whether or not this film was ever released, I do not know. But I DO know this was NOT the same home-made vampire film that Patsy is referring to which was made some ten years earlier. The title of this later film and was 'Beren.' This is just a blatant attempt to ‘disguise’ the making of this original film. If anybody does not believe me, it is open to them to contact Sylvaine herself (last time I spoke to her in 1980 she was still living in Paris). You really should stop telling fibs, Sean, it just doesn’t go with your acquired ‘religious status’!" — David Farrant

Seán Manchester's Rebuttal:

David Farrant's libellous tirade requires addressing given its illegal content which has been allowed to be published on this [ASSAP Facebook] group.

He refers to me as a "fraudulent ‘cleric’" which, of course, I am not, and is almost certainly in breach of the extant religious discrimination laws of the UK, as well as being patently libellous.

Farrant then pursues his unsubstantiated falsehood that a "home-made ‘vampire film’ in 1968/9" was shown to him at my Islington home when I did not become acquainted with Farrant until late February, early March 1970, as recorded in the Hampstead & Highgate Express, 6 March 1970. Farrant has never been to my home, whether almost half a century ago or since. I would certainly have not given consideration to him entering my home back then.

I have covered the asininity of Farrant's allegation regarding the non-existent 8mm film and its papier mâché vampire (this later developed and transformed into a flour and water paste vampire), but now Farrant is unwisely identifying third parties by their full name which compromises the privacy of such individuals and draws them into his machinations. I need to address this accordingly.

Tony Hill worked part-time at my studio up until 1968, at which time he took up with a barmaid [Mary who was married to David Farrant, and had been his wife for almost a year] in a pub on the Archway Road, a couple of hundred yards or so from where Hill lived, and ran off with her to Devon, leaving me without a part-time darkroom assistant. I opposed his "elopement" (both he and the barmaid were married, and Hill's wife was an acquaintance of mine). Thus a schism occurred and I wanted nothing to do with Hill. He felt the same way. This lasted well into the 1970s. In the interim, Farrant was made bankrupt (he had inherited a small amount of money in the previous year), was evicted from his flat and became destitute. By now Hill had returned to his wife, and, in a move that beggared belief, invited Farrant to sleep in his coal bunker (it was still functioning as a coal bunker). Each flat had their own coal hole, and these were set alongside each another in a communal cellar where junk and old, broken furniture had been dumped. Hill's wife arranged for me to visit Farrant in his coal bunker in order to talk to him following a letter written by Farrant that had been published in the Hampstead & Highgate Express in February 1970. I visited when her husband was at out and unlikely to return for a few hours. What met my gaze in the candle-lit coal bunker was a stammering tramp who tried to convince me he had seen a ghost. In fact, I had just seen one!

At this stage I had no idea about the hoax Farrant had executed with the full co-operation and help of Hill, and it would be some considerable time before I had clear evidence of this skullduggery. Hill has since owned up to the hoax, and he and I have reconciled our differences. Hill, of course, will attest that he did not contribute to the making of an 8mm film in 1968/9. It would have been difficult in the circumstances because Hill was living with a married woman in Devon at the time. It is unfortunate that Hill's wife is no longer alive because she was personally present when Farrant and her husband were cooking up and executing the ghost hoax. Needless to say, there are others who were privy to what was happening.

Farrant mentions another female innocent third party by name who was not involved in something that did not exist in the first place, but Patsy Sorenti (née Langley) recklessly alleges that the film shows my girlfriend having sex. This, of course, is untrue and libellous.

We move into an area of erroneous conjecture and false attribution, courtesy of Farrant, when Sylvaine Charlet's name is evoked.

Sylvaine and I were in a relationship, and I am not going to deny that. Nor, incidentally, will she. During that period we participated in poetry readings, personal appearances, historic projects and occasionally featured together in films. She was a gifted actress, artist, horsewoman and fencer. The film "Beren" starring Sylvaine and myself is not the same film as "The Vampire Exhumed." Both were made in the French language, in France, and both are art house films. Sylvaine made a number of Gothic films, including "Carmilla." A photograph of us together appears in her biography "Sylvaine SuperStar." We also featured in a number of French film magazines. I still regard Sylvaine as one of my dearest friends.

Farrant falsely and somewhat absurdly claims that Guy Godefroy, a film director who worked both in the USA and France, was Sylvaine's "partner." Guy, greatly inspired by Alfred Hitchcock, was a good friend to both Sylvaine and myself; he was also a homosexual.

I am naturally obliged to rebut and rectify Farrant's rabid rant, and set the record straight on matters that he has raised and published on an open ASSAP Facebook group. I am nonetheless dismayed to find innocent females' names being once again dragged through the mud by this man who feeds parasitically off the lives of others in a perpetual quest to garner attention for himself, and always on the coat-tails of others.

David Farrant has been making these fraudulent claims for years, and has in recent years been joined in this libellous endeavour by his so-called "secretary" and partner in crime, Patsy, who, since marrying Ricky Sorenti on 25 July 2015, is now known as Patsy Sorenti. This has been festering for far too long. Their problem is that they cannot produce any evidence because there is none to produce. The people they shamelessly name deserve to have this disgraceful matter challenged.

And here is proof of that message having been sent, and evidence that Sorenti is not blocked:

Patsy Sorenti has ignored the message she requested. There are just too many lies and deceits for her to untangle herself from to make Farrant's fabrication fly. The only individuals identified by Farrant as having attended are Farrant, of course, whom the law courts and print media repeatedly exposed as a compulsive liar, and Tony Hill, who at the time was living two hundred miles away in another county with Mary Farrant. After quitting his part-time job in the employ of Seán Manchester to live in Devon with Farrant's wife, he ceased being on speaking terms with his former employer. He also quit his job as a milkman. Hill will nonetheless confirm that he attended no such gathering to watch an 8mm film at the home of Seán Manchester, as claimed by Farrant and Sorenti (who would have been barely eight-years-old when the alleged screening occurred before an anonymous group).