One message she didn't pass on: 'Celebrity' clairvoyant, 62, has to pay back £27,000 benefits after not telling authorities she was doing £40-an-hour readings

  • Amanda Barrymore claimed both housing benefit and council tax credits
  • Pocketed thousands of taxpayer cash despite making a living as a psychic
  • Charged £40-an-hour to communicate with her customers' dead relatives
  • Narrowly escaped a jail sentenced and ordered to pay the money back 

By Euan McLelland For MailOnline

Published: | Updated:

Amanda Barrymore fraudulently claimed both housing benefit and council tax credits for four years despite charging customers £40-a-time to talk their dead relatives 

Amanda Barrymore fraudulently claimed both housing benefit and council tax credits for four years despite charging customers £40-a-time to talk their dead relatives 

A transgender 'celebrity' psychic who claims to communicate with the dead has been ordered to pay back almost £27,000 of benefits she conned from the taxpayer.

Amanda Barrymore fraudulently claimed both housing benefit and council tax credits for four years despite charging customers £40-a-time to talk their dead relatives.

She would pocket the fees per hour as she made contact with the spirit world in face-to-face, phone or Skype meets.

Despite that regular source of income, the 62-year-old - born as Mike - claimed she was jobless, allowing her to pocket tens of thousands of undue funds.

She was eventually caught out following a Department for Work and Pensions probe into her finances, during which investigators contacted telemarketing companies to obtain details of their employees and sub-contractors.

Barrymore, Stanway, Essex, admitted to magistrates she had been claiming housing benefit and council tax for four years up to July 2014.

The court was told Jobseekers' Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance were wrongfully claimed in January and September 2010.

She was yesterday handed a year-long suspended jail term, community work for 180 hours and a £165 bill for various court charges.

The clairvoyant boasts online of being a 'self-confessed Spiritual Workaholic'.

Her website explains how her 36 years of work have taken her abroad to give people one-to-one readings or public demonstrations.

She also explains that she has a spiritual guide called 'Patrick' who was a 19th century Catholic priest, adding: 'We work well together as I am a 'say it as it is' and a 'very upfront and no frills.'  

Publicity material for her autobiography - The Complete Autobiography of Amanda E. Barrymore, which talks in depth about her transformation from male to female - describes her as 'a gifted Psychic Medium who has worked internationally and on TV.' 

Barrymore would pocket the fees per hour as she made contact with the spirit world in face-to-face, phone or Skype meets. Despite that regular source of income, the 62-year-old - born as Mike - claimed she was jobless, allowing her to pocket tens of thousands of undue funds

Barrymore would pocket the fees per hour as she made contact with the spirit world in face-to-face, phone or Skype meets. Despite that regular source of income, the 62-year-old - born as Mike - claimed she was jobless, allowing her to pocket tens of thousands of undue funds

It continues: 'If learning to cope with psychic experiences from a very young age were not enough, her journey from being a boy named Mike into Amanda the Psychic Medium is a truly inspiring story.'

Gordon Collins, of the Fraud and Error Service at the Department for Work and Pensions, spoke following yesterday's sentencing.

He said: 'I can confirm that DWP have recently successfully prosecuted Amanda Barrymore for failing to declare that she was working as a clairvoyant.

'This meant that she was not entitled to the benefits that she had been claiming leading to the overpaid benefit which you have details of.'

He confirmed that the DWP will directly recover from Barrymore the £26,711.44 owed to the taxpayer.

Her website explains how her 36 years of work have taken her abroad to give people one-to-one readings or public demonstrations

Her website explains how her 36 years of work have taken her abroad to give people one-to-one readings or public demonstrations

He added: 'I cannot disclose what specific arrangements have been agreed as this would constitute revealing personal information but I can confirm that recovery of taxpayers' money will take place either by payments of lump sums or by regular repayments until all of the monies are repaid - this is the case for all of these types of recovery of fraudulent claims to benefit.

'We would have considered using the Proceeds of Crime Act to recover this money but there are no assets that we can legally seize.'

'The DWP do have a helpline where members of the public can leave details of individuals who they suspect of committing benefit fraud - details can be left anonymously and are treated in the strictest of confidence.

'All such referrals are looked at and acted on where evidence is found that benefit fraud is taking place.' 

Barrymore did not respond to requests for a comment.

Harry Davis, Campaign Manager at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'It's crucial that fraud is brought down to a minimum. While it is only a minority who actively game the system, it's right for the authorities to come down hard on those who do as is not fair on hard-pressed taxpayers who pay their way.' 

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