A TV psychic was hit with a £100,000 court bill and slammed as ‘dishonest’ by a judge after lying about losing his powers in a car crash.
Maurice Amdur, 56, said he was so racked by pain after the smash that he struggled with the intense concentration needed to give psychic readings to his clients.
The mystic, who said he has ‘read for royalty, heads of state and movie stars’ and appeared on This Morning in 2009, also claimed the collision ruined his sex life and cost him his relationship with his then girlfriend.
He brought a £250,000 damages bid against the insurers of the driver, Ilya Krylov, who hit him at Marble Arch roundabout in central London in January 2015.
Mr Amdur told the court he couldn’t get back to work as a psychic until 2017 ‘as he felt he did not have the mental sharpness and ability to concentrate sufficiently to do a good job’.
Judge Elizabeth Backhouse accepted the crash had caused the clairvoyant acute pain in his neck and back, as well as headaches and a numb right arm.
But she threw out his claim after finding Amdur made an ‘untrue statement’ about not being able to work as a psychic for two years, and had in fact done readings during that time.
The judge said: ‘I am prepared to accept that Mr Amdur does believe that he has a “gift” and that he considers that he behaves with integrity when working as a clairvoyant, unlike others in the field who are “charlatans” as he called them.
‘It does seem to be the case that Mr Amdur has had the TV exposure he claims and he appears to have enjoyed a wealthy lifestyle, judging by his assets.
‘He considers that he was on the cusp of a major upturn in his career as he had a number of opportunities for TV work at the time of the accident and in the months after it but he was not well enough to take those up.
‘I am prepared to accept that he may not have felt well enough to do as many as usual or to work to normal capacity, but I am satisfied that he did some readings,’ she said.
‘Clearly he must have known that he did that work and I find that in this respect he has been dishonest.’
The psychic would have been awarded £10,454 for his crash injuries, but his entire claim was dismissed as a ‘punitive’ step because it was undermined by ‘fundamental dishonesty’.
On top of defeat in court, Amdur must now pick up the costs of the trial, which lawyers in the case said are likely to run beyond £100,000.
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