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DAVIDFARRANT
Occultist, author and psychic
investigator DavidFarrant held
a unique place in English legal
history as thefi rst person to be
arrested and jailedfor offences
arising from his activities as
a vampire hunter, although
he insisted the term ‘vampire’
was a misnomer and misrepre-
sented his beliefs. Convicted
at the Old Bailey in 1974 ona
range ofcharges, hereceived a
heavy sentence – though doubts
remainabout the safety of at
least some of these convictions.
Born at Shepherd’s Hill,
Highgate, north London, the
son of a businessman and
radio manufacturer, his early
esoteric ideaswere influenced
by his Spiritualist mother who
died when hewas 13.Away at
boarding school, hewas deeply
affectedby her death, becom-
ing increasinglyrebellious and
engaging in escalating acts of
defianceresulting in hisexpul-
sion. Quittingformal education,
he tr avelled toFrance,working
his way to Spain as a seasonal
and casual labourer. By the
time hereturned to Britain in
the mid-1960s, his esoteric in-
terest crystallised in a commit-
ment to theWiccan movement,
an attraction that he admitted
was partly encouragedby the
rebellious and transgressive
aspects ofWicca. He became
widely known around Highgateas ‘Birdman’for
his appearances
with a parrot
on his shoulder
and for playing
various practical
jokes demonstrat-
ing a creative and
anarchic sense of
humour.
An early associ-
ation in 1967 with
record producer
Joe Meek, who
sought initiation
into Wicca, was
cut short when
Meek commit-
ted suicide after shooting his
landlady.
Later the sameyear, Farrant
founded the British Occult So-
ciety (later the British Psychic
and Occult Society (BPOS)). As
with all too manygroups pursu-
ing shared esoteric interests, it
was later bedevilledby internal
disputes and controversies that
rumbled onfor manyyears
(whatFThas dubbed ‘the 40
Year War’) concerning alleged
occult phenomena centring
upon Highgate Cemetery in
North London.
A personalexperience that
ultimately determinedmuch
of the later course ofFarrant’s
life and career occurred at the
north gate of the cemetery on
21 December 1969.Peering
through the cemetery gates,
he spotted a tall darkfi gure
around 7ft (2m) tall withred
eyes, whichvanished upon his
reciting a Kabbalistic invoca-
tion. After he wrote a brief
letter to theHampstead and
Highgate Express(6 Feb 1970)
describing hisexperience, the
paperreceived a fl ood of let-
ters apparently fromreaders
claimingweird experiences in
the cemetery, prompting the
paper to ask if a ‘Wampyr’ or
‘vampire’walked at Highgate.
Increasingly sensational stories
followed in the press and on
television in whichFarrant fea-
tured prominently, leading thecrumbling cemetery to become
a magnetfor thrill-seekers,
occult dabblers and cross-and-
fang fanatics of allvarieties.
With them came awaveof
desecration andvandalism
to graves that the authorities
proved unable to prevent.
Farrant’s high public profile
undoubtedly contributed to
his arrest on the legallyvague
charge of being in an enclosed
areafor an unlawful purpose
armed with whatwas presented
as a stake.The fi rst hearing
before a magistrate (whose
name appropriately enough
was Christopher Lea)was
adjourned when the Detective
Sergeant leading the pros-
ecution suffered a mild heart
attack.Three weeks later, the
case came before stipendiary
magistrate DJ Purcell who,
after advisingFarrant to seea
doctor, acquitted him,fi nding
the cemeterywas not an en-
closed area in law, and accept-
ing submissions that hunting
for vampireswas no more an
illegal or irrational than spend-
ing vast sums of money seeking
the Loch Ness Monster. The
case attracted international
covera ge, with theBaltimore
Sunobserving itwas “no longer
a crime to huntvampires in
England”.
Buoyed upby this acquit-
tal, Farrant immediately
announced he and the BPOS
would resume nightly vigils at
the cemetery, hoping to catch
black magicians trying toresur-
rect a corpse as “azombie”
(HornseyJournal, 7 Oct 1970).
However, he was lessfortu-
nate twoyears later when he
and another society member,
VictoriaJervis, were arrested
in the course of a ghost hunt
and ritual at Monken Hadley
churchya rd, Barnet. Convicted
of “riotous, violent, or indecent
behaviour” under section 2
of the Ecclesiastical Courts
Jurisdiction Act 1860, hewas
describedby the prosecution as
a young man who “hadread toomuch DennisWheatley” and
fi ned 10 pounds. (Hampstead
and Highgate Express, 24 Nov
1972). Nonetheless, thesewell-
publicised investigations and
stunts continued, leading to an
invitation from Oxford Univer-
sity to address the Student’s
Union.
In January 1974 the police
raidedFarrant’s homefollowing
an incident where a man who
had parked his car outside the
cemeteryreturned andfound
a headless skeleton sitting
in the driver’s seat. Nothing
linkedFarrant to this incident.
Unfortunately, he had also
provoked the policeby serving
two officers –Westham and
Reid – withvoodoo dollsreck-
lessly sentby recorded delivery.
The police seized photographs
taken in 1971 of him together
with ayoung woman invarious
stages of undress insidevaults
with opened coffins at Highgate
Cemetery (some of these had
previously appeared in newspa-
pers). Remanded in custody on
a collection ofcharges includ-
ing damaginggraves, witness
intimidation, possession ofa
fi rearm and ammunition with-
out a certificate and stealinga
pillowcase and bedding from
Barnet hospital, hewas commit-
ted to the Old Baileyfor trial.
At the 1996ForteanTimes‘Un-
convention’,Farrant plausibly
maintained hewas the victim of
a miscarriage of justice inrela-
tion to some of thesecharges.
Convicted on 17July 1974,
he was sentencedby Mr Justice
Argyle QC tofour years and
eight months imprisonment.
The indictment certainly ap-
pears to have beenoverloaded,
as notedby the Court ofAppeal
(LordJusticeJames, MrJustice
Milmo and MrJustice Cusack)
referring to “technical offenc-
es” includedby a prosecution
intent on securing his convic-
tion at all costs. However, de-
spite the lack of directevidence
on the offences of damaging
graves, the Court declined toThismonth,were memberthepsychicin vestigatorwhosenamewillforeverbe
NECROLOG associatedwiththemediafrenzysurroundingthe‘HighgateVampire’STRANGEDAYS