A psychic medium who hit the headlines last year for his role in exposing a past crime will visit a New Barnet pub tonight to share the secrets of the dead. But he’s not crazy, he tells TOMASZ JOHNSON.

Patrick Hutchinson says the spirits have always been with him. There are four of them, including Anne, an overweight redhead who died in 1974, and Johnny, a policeman from the 19th century.

“Annie had a problem with alcohol her whole life,” said Mr Hutchinson this week. “But generally she’s a lovely person. Johnny comes from about 1853. He’s a tall man, quite handsome with a moustache.

“He’s a good all-rounder.”

Mr Hutchinson shot to fame, albeit briefly, last year after one of his shows stirred up memories of childhood abuse in a member of his audience, leading circuitously to the conviction of a paedophile.

Mr Hutchinson’s role in the case was arguably overplayed by the media at the time, but he says it is actually quite common for his spirit friends, or “guides” to lead him towards crimes.

“Different mediums work in different ways,” he said. “I work with a set of guides who always seem to get me involved in murder cases. I don’t know why, they just always seem to come up.”

The bread and butter of Mr Hutchinson’s trade are his shows in pubs, hotels and social clubs across the country, where his guides introduce him to dead relatives of people in the audience and pass on messages from beyond the grave.

It is their nack of meeting murdered relatives that gets him involved in murder cases, he claims, when the relatives want answers they cannot get from the human world.

If you think it all sounds a little, well, crazy, Mr Hutchinson would be the first to agree.

“I never wanted to be a medium - people think you’re a loony. I ran a gardening company and was quite happy, earning good money. But I had an accident and damaged the ligament in one of my legs.

“I used to mess around with readings with my wife’s friends, just for a bit of fun. My leg took 21 weeks to heal and I couldn’t work. I started doing more readings and never really stopped.”

But the revelation that he was being followed by four spirits, and had been for as long as he could remember, came as something of a shock to his wife Bernice.

She suggested he get himself “checked up”, after which he visited a spiritualist church, where the resident medium confirmed his belief that he was psychic.

But did Bernice not mean he should see a doctor?

“Yes, I think she probably did mean a doctor,” he said. “But I’m not crazy, I can assure you of that. I’m not schizophrenic - their voices tell them to hurt themselves or other people. That’s not a problem for me.

“I know for someone who doesn’t believe in it it does seem a bit crazy, but the proof is always in the pudding. I have to prove myself nearly every night.”

Tonight Mr Hutchinson will perform at The Weaver pub in Greenhill Parade, New Barnet. While it might be an unusual event for regulars, it is quite a typical venue for the medium.

While mediums more commonly perform in spiritualist churches, he says he enjoys the challenge of performing to crowds who might not necessarily believe.

He said: “I prefer to work with people who don’t believe or are 50/50. It would be no fun if everyone believed.

“I did one in a working men’s club in Luton which was full of bouncers and their wives, telling me to prove it. Four or five of them walked out in tears after I spoke to their mothers.

“A lot of people might be sceptical, but I’m not dragging them to see me. I’m not saying I’m the greatest medium in the world, but people seem to be happy with what I do.”