The Prediction - How I fooled the Police

The Prediction

In response to the Advertiser Groups challenge to Looch. A Facebook page was been set up to cover the event in the days leading up to the prediction. You can view the the events history here: The Prediction

In late December 2011, The Newark Advertiser issued a challenge to Nottinghamshire based mind reader Looch. They wanted to put his skills to the test by having him predict the final score of a Rugby match between Newark RUFC & Melton Mowbray. The match was to be played on the afternoon of Saturday 7th January 2012, upon agreeing to the challenge a series of stipulations were given to ensure everything was fair and to eliminate the possibility of trickery. These were the stipulations put on Looch:

The scene was set

Looch began working on his prediction, researching the previous scores of both teams. On form, Newark seemed the likely choice to win and they had won many of their league matches by a high and convincing score. Of course, the more wins a team generates, its only a matter of time before they lose and although Meltons previous ten games showed several losses themselves, it was entirely possible they could provide an upset on the 7th.

In the week leading up to the match, the weather in the Newark area was unsettled and playing havoc with the prediction. Drop goals and conversions would have to be re-evaluated due to the high wind. Would the score be as high as previous games?

The Prediction - Mind Reader 1On Thursday 5th January, The Newark Advertiser ran a small one paragraph article announcing that Looch had accepted the challenge and the outcome would be recorded for a larger feature to be published the week after the match on Thursday 12th January.

Unbeknown to the Advertiser, Looch had already made his prediction on Wednesday 4th January, He had sealed it in a bubble wrapped envelope and dated it. He then went online and uploaded a video to YouTube discussing his thoughts and subsequent outcome of the game. This can be viewed here (Please note the upload date)

The Big Day

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Sergeant Mortimore marking the prediction envelope to prevent foul play.

At 9:30am on Saturday 7th January, Looch delivered his sealed prediction to Newark police station. He was greeted by a representative from the Advertiser and Sergeant Mortimore who took Looch upstairs into a secure evidence room. The prediction was handed over to the Sergeant who marked the envelope for identification. The markings were in the form of a drawing, specifically a box.

Once the envelope had been marked, it was then sealed inside a tamper proof evidence bag which was sealed and then locked into a time lock safe. At no point during this did Looch have any control as to what markings were put on the envelope and which safe it was the be locked into.

Sergeant Mortimore announced that the envelope would be kept inside the safe overnight and the password needed to unlock the safe was only known to her. She informed Looch and the Advertiser that she would meet us the next morning for the revealing of the prediction.

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The prediction inside a tamper proof evidence bag is locked away in a time lock safe.

The match was to kick off at 2:15pm that afternoon, Looch was not allowed at the match and instead was invited to an interview by the Ashton family for the In-touch Community magazine.

He returned the police station at 9:30am on Sunday 8th January to reveal the prediction to a reporter, photographer and Sergeant Mortimore. Looch was not allowed to remove the prediction from the safe. The tamper proof evidence bag was checked and cut open to remove the bubble wrapped envelope. This was checked and confirmed by the police that there were no signs of tampering. The envelope was finally cut open, and the contents removed by reporter Andrew Miller.

The Prediction

What follows is the article written in the Newark Advertiser following my successful prediction of a Rugby Match that I had been challenged to predict by the media group and the Nottinghamshire Police.

A Mind Reader who accepted a Newark Advertiser challenge to predict the score of a Rugby match said it was the hardest thing he had ever attempted to do.

Looch, real name Wayne Bolsover, attempted to predict the outcome of Newark Rugby Club's match against Melton Mowbray on Saturday.

He was spot on.

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The prediction being documented by the reporter

Looch hand delivered his prediction to Newark Police Station for safekeeping on Saturday morning, before the 2:15pm kick-off. The Advertiser was present, as was Sergeant Lisa Mortimore who took Looch's prediction and sealed it inside a police evidence bag, before storing it in a time lock safe.

Newark beat Melton Mowbray, 39-3 on Saturday, and Looch returned the following morning to Newark Police Station for the opening of his prediction. Unaware of the outcome of the match, Looch seemed a little nervous, not knowing how accurate his prediction would be.

The envelope was opened under strict supervision, and a representative from the Newark Advertiser removed the prediction to read it out, revealing not just one, but six predictions.

His first prediction stated, “Newark to win,” followed by the word, “Comfortably.”

Then came the acid test, the final score of the match. To everyone’s utter amazement, Looch's prediction was exactly right, 39-3.

The 31 year old didn't stop there; he was only getting started.

He predicted the number 36 would be relevant, which was also correct, because when you subtract 39 from 3 you get 36.

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Mind Reader Looch poses with the successful prediction

Uncannily, 36 was also the number of the time lock safe that Sergeant Mortimore had randomly chosen to put Looch's prediction envelope in for safekeeping.

Looch's fifth prediction was that the Police would mark the envelope with a shape - possibly a cube or a box. Without any influence from Looch, Sergeant Mortimore had in fact drawn a box on the outside of the prediction envelope before sealing it and placing it in the safe.

Sergeant Mortimore commented, “I can assure you that the envelope was not tampered with. I’m very impressed with the predictions."

Looch’s only unsuccessful prediction was that Newark’s number 13 would score three tries, because 13 x 3 = 39.

He was close though. Aloessi Buddah Waqalevu, who wore the number 13 shirt for Newark on Saturday, scored two tries. First team coach Mr Bob Nashed revealed he came within half a metre of scoring a third.

Looch, of Ompton, said he was relieved that his predictions had been correct.

“You have to take risks and it's possible that things will go wrong. I advertise myself as a Mind Reader and Mentalist, so I am over the moon to have been able to pull it off. It is without a doubt the hardest thing I have attempted and the first challenge I’ve done of this kind. A lot of control was taken away from me.”

If you would like to challenge Looch to a similar stunt, or would like to learn more about how a Publicity Stunt can generate a real buzz for your company or event, please get in touch today!

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