Inveraray Jail | Paranormal Investigation Scotland

Inveraray Jail,

Inveraray Scotland

Team :-
Jim Scientific Advisor/Spirit Voices
Mike Medium
Joanne Medium
Paul H Developing Medium
Wilma Developing Medium
Christine Developing Medium
Paul G Developing Medium
Sean Developing Medium
Karen Developing Medium
Clare Spirit Voices Guest
Stuart Spirit Voices Guest
Fiona Apits Guest
Pat Inveraray Jail Rep.
Bob Inveraray Jail Rep.
Ian Apits Organiser/ camera
David Investigator/camera
Billy Investigator
Alex Team Co-ordinator.

We arrived at the jail at approx 6pm. Once all the equipment was unloaded, Jim and Alex went through the health and safety regulations with the team, and then discussed with the team the format for this investigation. Throughout Jims talk, Alex attention was drawn to a room outside the court but within his view. There was a spirit of young boy playing in this area. Also, during the talk Jim was giving in the courtroom, Sean had to leave the room. Sean stated afterwards he had an overwhelming feeling of anxiety and felt that he had done something wrong and just had to get out of the courtroom.
While in the courtroom, Wilma picked up the names Sarah Mcgloughlin and Tommy.
After the talk, Alex asked Christine and Mike to come in to this room to see if they could pick anything up.
Both Christine and Mike pick up on the presence of a young boy. Mike gets the name Joseph.
On the break in the kitchen before the tour started, Fiona, "saw" a little boy looking in the window. The boy had dark hair. No further information on who he was at present.

Familiarisation tour.

Once we had settled in, Jim took us on a tour of the location. The first place Jim takes us to was the "new" prison block. We had just moved through the door of the block when Joanne reports something had touched her lower back. The team go upstairs to the "exercise" area. Alex sets up a card experiment in this area. Joanne feels the area is quite active. Jim had just finished telling the group the noises they hear are probably seagulls, when there is a short squeal like noise. (Heard on video playback but not at the time) This does not appear to be a seagull. It is more like the noise a rat would make. Mike gets his left ear pinged. We go down one floor.
Alex goes into the "warders" room and immediately picks up on the fact that this is wrong. It is not a warder’s room. He sees people being examined here by a doctor. He also sees prisoners being abused here. Later, Alex walked into the "medical" room and sensed this room was in fact the warder’s room. The medical room is directly below the warder’s room.

The team have a look at various cells. Christine walks into a cell and reports getting her backside nipped. She also gets her arm "flicked." Claire, Stuart and Pat go into the "warden’s room" and Claire reports an eerie feeling. Pat reports the cell feels very cold. In another cell where there is a manikin dressed in a straight jacket, Christine reports spirit is spitting at her. She reports the spirit has facial hair and is very dirty looking. He has tatty shoulder length hair and is in his forties. Paul asks why he is here. Christine says spirit is saying because he raped women. The spirit tells Mike he raped his sister. The spirit who will not give his name is laughing and swearing at the group. Christine sees this spirit being strung up. She picks up the name Jimmy Morrison.

In the "medical room" both Wilma and Joanne pick up that this is not a medical room. They can't quite make out as yet what it is. Christine and Billy take a turn to lie down on a wooden bed in one of the cells. They both feel as if they are sinking. David gets his ear pinged. Mike senses a spirit pass him in the corridor and enter one of the cells. Mike follows the spirit into the cell. Mike says the spirit is like an "attendant" there is another chap who is lying bleeding on the bed. His wrists have been cut. There was no sign he was going to do it. Mike is seeing the old man try to patch up his arm. He is trying in vain to stop the bleeding. There are 2 other men in the cell, the taller one has been there for sometime, he has something to do with it, the other is quite new, it is the first time he has seen a man bleeding like this, he feels quite sick. The taller man is now laughing and saying he deserved it; the man on the bed now dies in this cell. There is now a guard standing at the door and several other people behind him.

In another cell, Christine is picking up the presence of children. Mike is picking up the same. Christine, Mike and David go into the washroom on the ground floor of the block. Christine is picking up a negative atmosphere and has a tingly feeling. Mike is picking up lots of activity and feels very cold.

The team move on to the "old" prison block.

While walking in the courtyard between blocks, Karen is picking up lots of residual energy. Sean is very excited about something he has picked up on in the courtyard. He was walking round the exercise block with Karen and felt she was being "henpecked" by prisoners. When Sean reached a specific point at the exercise block he suddenly shouted "silence." It was Sean saying the word but not in his voice and it was a complete surprise to him. In the old block we start at the top floor and work down. In the first cell they enter, Christine is picking up on a passive woman. Joanne is sensing a woman who has arthritis in her hands. Joanne says it is an older woman. David feels pain in his back. Joanne feels the "soul "in here is a good soul. Christine is seeing light anomalies above her head. Christine and Joanne both agree the woman here should not be here, Wilma feels the woman was unable to speak up for herself. Joanne picks up the name Alice. In the cell next door, Sean is picking up on a spirit who says they will "play" later when it is dark.

The cell, which depicts a scene of prisoner’s playing cards, has a very negative feeling. Joanne is picking up the word baccy and is getting a pain in her shoulder. David hears some unseen presence say "Don’t stand on my foot." Joanne says they are playing cards for baccy which was supplied by the guards. The guards also sometimes joined in. Christine feels a female spirit in the room. She feels the spirit is taking a great deal of risk coming into the cell. No further info at this time.
We then decide to have a tea break and decide on the teams for the vigils. During the break, a Lego experiment was set up in a room just off the main courtroom and an Infra Red camera linked directly to a DVD recorder was set up in the courtroom looking from the judge’s bench to the gallery. Also on the break, Sean and Christine pick up the presence of children in the shop stock room. They move things around and cause noises.

First vigil (Jim)

For his first vigil, Jim took his team to the old prison block. They settled down in one of the cells. Jim asks the team to spend a couple of minutes getting used to the room.

Jim asks if spirit would like to communicate with the team in any way would they please do so. Sean picks up on a presence. He says "There is somebody here because they want me to transfigure them." Sean then explains how he looks if someone tries to take him over. Sean and Mike are both seeing someone standing in the doorway. No team member is standing in the doorway. Jim senses Mike is "seeing" something and asks him what it is. Mike says he is quite a tall chap. Jim asks if the spirit would like to come in and talk to us. Mike answers "not saying anything, just standing there looking". Jim then asks Mike/Sean to describe the man. Mike says the man has keys attached to his trousers. The keys are on a ring. Jim asks what sort of uniform the man is wearing. Sean says it is a dark uniform and Mike is also seeing dark blue/grey. Jim asks what sort of hat if any. Mike says "long grey hair".

Jim then asks if they can see his face and if he is clean shaven or what. Neither Mike nor Sean can see his face at this time. Just before Sean says he can't see his face, there is another voice heard on video playback. At this time, we don't know who this is. We do know it is not one of the team members. Jim asks the guard or warden standing in the doorway to step forward and do something to let the rest of the team know he is here. There is a drop in temperature. With so many people in such a small space, the temperature should not be dropping but should in fact be rising. The man gives Mike and Sean his name. Mike gets "John Gochlan" Sean picked up Ian John. Sean says he was quite a good guard. He did his job then went home. Mike says "not threatening at all". Jim asks if he can give a date when he worked here and what age he is. Sean picks up 28/29. Jim asks if that is his age. Mike says he looks quite good for his age. Sean then says the 28/29 may be the length of time he worked here. Jim asks John the year he started working here. Sean is getting the year 1832. Jim asks when John Coughlin? Worked here, was it a mans prison or woman’s prison? Mike says "men on one floor, women on the other cant work out what way though".

Jim then asks spirit to do something which the non sensitive people in the group can see or here. There are clear footsteps heard in the corridor outside the cell. No physical person is anywhere else in the building. Jim asks spirit to gently touch the face of Stuart or Claire just to show them he is here. No response at this time.

Mike right away senses spirit is trying to touch them, but Stuart and Claire are resisting. Jim then asks spirit to do something Stuart and Claire can hear as they don't want to be touched. The room is now very cold. The centre of the room is colder than anywhere else. Sean reports a draught going round his back. There is a noise picked up on video just after Sean says this.
Jim asks if there are any other spirits present. Right away, Sean gets touched on the inside of the shoulder. Sean says it was like someone digging their fingernails into his shoulder. Jim asks spirit to let someone else in the group know they are here. Sean senses John is not letting any spirits come forward who may cause the group harm. Jim asks John to allow spirit to come through who does not wish us harm. Mike sees a small boy in front of John's leg holding onto his leg, a shy boy.
Jim again hears someone walking in the corridor. Sean is sensing sadness. Sean asks why the spirit is sad. Spirit informs Sean that it is because of what he has done. Jim asks Sean "who is talking to you now?" Sean replies he just got a vision of a stabbing. He can see a knife going into someone’s torso.

Sean says he is seeing the silhouette of a child in the distance. Jim asks the child’s name. Williams?? Sean says the boy has just called him sir, as if he was speaking to authority. Jim asks if this was his cell. Sean feels as if this was an older person’s cell. Someone is trying to speak to Mike so Sean passes over to Mike. Sean picks up a face and says he has slitty? eyes. Mike says "the guard or the other man" Jim asks if this was his cell. Answer yes. Jim asks was he always in this cell. Sean’s answer yes. Jim asks what year did he leave here. Sean says the spirit does not know. Mike then says "not very good at speaking, does not know numbers". Sean says illiterate. Jim asks again, "all the time this spirit was in Inveraray Jail, this was his cell?" Sean’s answer’s "yes".
Paul asks "what other jails was he in?" Sean says he is getting northwest. Jim says spirit is not a happy person because of what he did. Jim then asks was it a fit of anger which caused him to do it. Sean’s answer yes. Jim again asks if there is anything he can do to show the group he is here. Jim hears a banging noise. Even with sound enhancement and volume full up, there a faint banging noise which seems to be coming from inside the cell.

Jim asks spirit if that’s the best it can do. There is a louder bang heard by Jim. It is also picked up on video. Jim demonstrates how he wants spirit to respond, by knocking twice on the wall. There is one bang clearly heard on video playback. Pat is picking up on a tune, a song. Jim asks spirit to push the cell door. There is a noise on video playback at this point. It is like someone rubbing their hands on their trouser legs. Probably one of the team trying to warm themselves up as the room is now very very cold.
Jim asks spirit to touch someone. Spirit touches Jim. Jim asks spirit to touch someone else. Spirit touches the leg of Mike. Jim once again asks spirit to do something to prove to the rest of the group he is here. The room is now a bit warmer. Jim decides to move the team to another cell as the atmosphere seems to have gone flat.

He had no sooner said that when the room gets darker beside Sean. Sean sees a cross on a window. Jim asks if the cross is in this cell or a place we should go to. Sean answers it is in another place. Jim asks Sean to ask spirit to let him "see" the place we should go to. Mike and Sean are both picking up something which looks like a cell but is more like a place of worship.
Sean is picking up someone walking up and down the corridor. There is nobody else in the building. Mike sees two men carrying another man. The man has "passed out" the men are all prisoners. A fourth man, a guard is behind them. The team move to another cell. In this cell is a hammock and a number of dummies depicting a scene of a group of prisoners playing cards.
Sean asks spirit to do something.

On the earlier familiarisation tour, spirit told Sean they were going to come "out to play."
Mike says "just sitting there engrossed in the cards". Sean says spirit is saying "later later." Jim asks Sean to ask spirit to move the cards. Jim asks for a sample of what he will do later. No response. Jim is gently trying to goad spirit into doing something by saying that this particular spirit has no power at all and is just a joker. Jim moves the team down the corridor.
As soon as they enter another cell, Sean says this is the cell of the spirit who earlier said he is sorry for what he had done.
The spirit is saying to Sean "he done the crime so he will do the time" Quite a modern day saying. Jim gets a strong smell of tobacco. Nobody is smoking inside or outside the building. Jim asks if there is anything we can do to help this spirit. Spirit says no and tells Mike he is happy here because he likes John.

Sean feels the man who passed out outside, was the same man who is sorry for his crimes. Mike feels he was brought back up to this cell where he died. He is trying to tell us when he died. Sean says this spirit is totally confused with numbers.1818 or 1819. Mike feels the spirit died after John had left the prison service. John, who is in visitation, was quite surprised the spirit was "still here." The dates 1818/1819 don't tie in with the earlier date picked up of 1832, which is when John said he stopped working at the prison.
Some team members hear a tapping noise. The spirit will not give his name as he is ashamed of what he has done. He will not move on as he is happy here. Jim now calls a halt to the vigil as the allotted time has now passed. Sean says the spirit has now said to him "thank you Mr. Sean." Jim thanks spirit for what they have done and closes the vigil.

Second vigil (Jim)

Jim takes his team to the courtroom for their second vigil of the evening.

Once they have settled down, Jim asks spirit if they would talk to the group or communicate with the group in anyway they can. Jim asks spirit to step forward even if it is just to say hello. Sean is picking up on a gentleman called Bill. Sean asks if he is a judge to which spirit replies not yet. He is like a clerk of the court. Jim is feeling very cold down his left side. Bill tells Sean he knows him. Sean does not know if spirit is referring to him or Jim, as Jim is asking the questions. Jim asks spirit if he knows his name. Sean says spirit is referring to him as he has just referred to Sean by Sean’s middle name. Jim asks Bill to show himself to the team. Bill tells Sean he sits at the table in front of the judge. Sean then says he is picking up the name William Wilson so it just might be the clerks name. Jim asks William to make a noise. Jim then asks spirit to consider us as friends and introduces some of the team to him. Jim then asks spirit if he has seen Pat in here before. Sean gives the answer yes. Jim asks if spirit knows where Pat works. Spirit replies downstairs. Pat in fact works in the shop downstairs.

Jim then asks if Pat ever comes up here to the courtroom. Sean gives the answer, yes on occasions. Sean says William will talk to Mike. Mike can't hear William at this time. Jim sees a slow flash of orange light about two inches, just at the back of the bench where the manikins dressed as police officers are sitting. The light was under the level of the bench, so it could not have come from outside and as no team member are using orange light filters it could not have been a team member.
Jim asks if there are any other spirits Bill will allow us to talk to . Sean says "why should you be bothered with scum". Jim asks who Bill is referring to as scum. Sean replies "The people that come to court". Someone just taps Stuart on the shoulder. There is nobody physically near enough to tap him on the left shoulder. Jim asks who it was. Mike says nobody important. Just one of the prisoners or one of the visitors to the court. Sean says "one of the scum".

Jim asks Bill to tell the group about himself and asks what period of time he worked in the court. Sean says Bill still considers himself as working here. He does not seem to realise he has passed. Sean confirms the person who touched Stuart earlier was not Bill.
Jim asks Bill If he can tie a bow. Mike answers "of course I can." Mike and Sean both pick up on Bill saying "do you think I’m an idiot" or something like that. Jim tells Bill he does not take him for an idiot at all. Jim tells Bill he is asking in relation to activities which happened at the hall in the church across the road. Sean asks spirit to do something.
Jim then asks Bill if he can tell us about the children who are in spirit here, particularly Josh. Mike says "scruffy urchins".
Sean says Bill does not like being asked those questions. Jim asks if there is anything he would like to tell us. Sean says he is telling us something (not clear on recordings). Jim asks if he is the most important person in this room. Mike says he is not but he likes to think he is. There is someone more senior. Sean is picking up procurator fiscal. Jim asks Bill if that is correct. Sean says he is referred to as something else. Jim asks if there is anyone else Bill would like to introduce to us. Mike says Bill is saying he does not have time for anyone else.

Jim starts to tell Bill one of the reasons the team are here is to get to the truth. Sean interrupts by saying Bill is thumping his fist on the table Mike says Bill is saying there is many a truth and many lies go through here. Jim asks Bill to prove to the group he is here. Sean says "he has more important things to do".
Jim thanks Bill for giving us his time. Sean says "sir" (From Bill) deference to Jim. Jim tells Bill he wants to talk to the "scum" and asks Bill to stay and protect the group. Jim asks any other spirit if they would communicate with us. Sean picks up the surname Bilson?
Jim then asks spirit to step forward and tell us their story. Sean keeps seeing something above the judges head. Mike says he keeps seeing flashes between the dock and the gallery. Sean is now sure someone is standing behind the judge as he keeps seeing a variation of light.

Jim senses the child Joseph we picked up on earlier is still by the door to the right hand side of the court. Jim moves the team to the area where the Lego experiment is set up. They move to an area just off the room. Once in the room, Jim asks the team to sit down.
Jim asks any spirit who was not allowed to speak to the team inside the main courtroom to come forward and communicate with us in anyway they can. Something touches Sean. Jim asks the spirit touching Sean to let itself be known to anyone else in the group.
Something touches Sean’s left arm.

Mike picks up the spirit of a young girl called Jessie. Mike says Jessie is standing beside Sean. She has a white coloured dress, dark hair, sucking her thumb, dress between ankles and knee’s, dirty, scruffy looking Jim asks Mike why she is here. Mike says her mum works here as a cook. Jim asks if she plays here all day. Mike says when the grumpy men don’t tell her. Jim asks what her mothers name is. Someone says Winnie. Sean says he gets the name Anna. Jim asks if she has seen the Lego in the other room. She can see them but Joseph will not let her play with them. She tells Mike, Joseph is not here now and that he is a sad boy. Jim asks if anyone else comes here and if there are any nice people who come here.

Jim then asks Jessie if her mum can come and talk to the team Mike says Jessie says her mum is busy in the kitchen. Mike says Jessie has moved slightly towards the centre of the circle. Jim asks Jessie if she recognises any of the ladies who are with the group. No response at this time. Mike says she is pointing to the lady on my right. Jim says he has not got a clue who that is. Mike says imagine if you are facing forward, I am facing 12 o’clock, it is about 4-5 o’clock from me. Jim then asks Jessie to touch the lady she has seen before. No response. Sean asks Mike to ask Jessie is she is aware she has died. Jim sees a flash of green tinted light move from his right to left across his field of vision. Sean says the whole time he has been in this room he has struggled to speak as his throat is very sore.

Jim asks Jessie if she has had trouble swallowing. Sean says he feels as if he has tonsillitis. Sean feels a drop in temperature by his right, Jim reports a cold spot by his right foot which moves across his body. Jim senses a presence but the spirit will give no indication as to who they are. Jim asks the spirit to make a noise all the group can hear. Sean is getting sounds in his ear, Jim is feeling a cold spot down his side and asks if there are any other spirits here. Mike senses someone in the doorway. It is as if they are waiting to come in. The presence is asked to step forward and make themselves known to the group. Some spirit is coming close to Sean then pulling back. Jim again asks spirit to do something. There is a distinct noise which was not caused by any team member.
Spirit is then asked to knock on the wall twice. No apparent response at this time. Jim asks again. No response. The presence is still coming near to Sean then drawing back. Jim calls a halt to the vigil.

First Vigil Alex

Courtroom.

Joanne is seeing the courtroom differently as to what it looks like now. She asks if it is possible cases were heard here before the court was actually properly furnished. Bob tells us the judges were very keen to get hearings established here so it is possible.
Paul is picking up on a spirit which is "feeling his knee" The spirit gives her name as Helen or Helena or Elaina. Nothing further from her just now. Alex asks spirit to show they are here in anyway they can or want to. He asks spirit to knock on the benches. No response at this time. There is a "knocking noise" being heard . Ian says it sounds like an old pipe or something. There are noises coming from behind Ian on who is filming from the judges bench. Alex goes out of the door behind the judges bench but finds nothing. Alex comes back into the courtroom and asks spirit to do something in the room everyone can see or hear. Christine is "seeing" something standing behind Paul. Alex is also "seeing" energy beside Paul and moves across to where Paul is standing.

Alex is now about one metre away from Paul and there is definite temperature change between where Paul is standing and Alex. There is definite movement, as if someone is walking between Paul and Alex. Christine picks up the name Andrew Marie? Andrew tells Christine he likes it here. Joanne says Andrew is just watching trials and he is happy because someone he wanted to be found gaily has just been found guilty. Andrew is 28 years old. He is smartly dressed. Andrew is now touching Paul’s hair. Joanne is "seeing" Andrew standing at Paul’s right shoulder. Paul asks Andrew to touch his neck. No response at this time. There is a noise which sound like footsteps coming from the other side of the courtroom. The footsteps are directly behind Joanne and Christine. No team member is there.

Alex feels an energy right in front of his face. Christine is "seeing" a light which is going between Paul and Alex. There is a very loud creaking noise which comes from directly behind Joanne and Christine. They both say "someone has just sat down behind us." There is no physical person there. The spirit, touches the face of Joanne.
Billy and Fiona are feeling a swirling breeze in the space between them. Once again there is movement heard in the room just off the courtroom. There is nobody in this room. The other team members are in an outbuilding and the only people in the main building are the ones in the courtroom. Two bangs are heard from the judges bench. Ian assures us it was not him banging. Paul asks Andrew to make a noise beside the little box hanging on the doorknob. The little box Paul is referring to is a highly sensitive voice recorder. No noise is heard on playback.

Paul asks if anyone in the group can pick up the energies he and Alex are picking up. Joanne confirms there is still an energy between Paul and Alex. Alex now moves to the area behind Joanne and Christine, There is definite movement but we cannot ascertain who or what is causing it. Joanne says Andrew is telling her he is a wages clerk.
Alex is now standing behind Billy and Fiona. There is an energy in the space between them once again. Joanne is picking up the spirit of a girl sitting between Fiona and Billy. The girl tells Joanne she is the sister of someone who is being tried. No name at this point. Fiona is now feeling discomfort in her abdomen. Alex is picking up the smell of peat. ( Peat is a natural substance which was used and in some places still is used as fuel for burning in Scotland) Joanne is picking up the name E. Macpherson/Mcpherson. Could this be the young girl sitting between Fiona and Billy? Joanne confirms it is. It was her brother? who was convicted. No information as to what he was convicted for.

Christine suddenly points to the right side of Paul, who is still standing in the back passageway to the left of the judges bench. She sees a small white silhouette. The spirit is making it's way down the steps and going towards the solicitors table which is front centre of the courtroom. Joanne is seeing a figure moving quite fast in the same area.
Alex goes down to the area where Joanne and Christine are seeing the figure. There is a definite heat spot is this area. Alex asks Ian if he can feel anything. Ian confirms there is a heat spot in that area.
There is a noise beside Fiona and Billy. Alex goes to where the noise appeared to originate from. There is a piece of paper on the floor which was not there earlier. Alex had found a stone in the same area earlier in the vigil after hearing a noise beside Fiona and Billy.
The figure Joanne is seeing is a girl of 7 to 8 years old. She is giving her name as Jo. Joanne feels the child has something to do with the Macpherson/Mcpherson mentioned earlier.
Alex calls a halt to the vigil as the allotted time has passed.

Second Vigil Alex.

New prison block.

Alex takes his team to the indoor exercise yard at the very top of the building. This space was also used as a store room.
Once everyone has settled down, Alex asks his spirit guide Solomon to step forward and make his presence known to the group in anyway he wants. It is now ice cold right in front of Alex. Christine sees the figure of a man standing beside Alex. Several members of the team can clearly see Solomon and remark on the fact that he is "huge." Alex asks Solomon to touch every member of the team. Several team members actually feel him passing amongst them. Alex asks Solomon if there are any spirits visiting or resident who will come forward and talk to us as a group. Spirits who identified themselves were, John Edwards, William Sheene?, Sarah, and Tavistock. Billy asks if someone in the team is standing up at the end of the corridor by the stairs. No team member is there.

Alex now asks for more spirits to identify themselves. Joanne now picks up the name Jenkins and Fiona picks up the name Jean Murphy. Alex says he does not want staff names. Joanne picks up the name Elizabeth Hardwell or Caldwell. Alex is picking up visiting gentry. Bob informs the group the board of governors visited monthly. The visiting gentry Alex is picking up on, visited once a year and not once a month. No further information on who they might be at present. Alex says all the torches should be turned off for twenty seconds as he is going to ask Solomon to show himself to everyone. Christine sees someone standing in front of her and is so close she asks Alex to ask Solomon to step back. Joanne experiences someone touch her neck. No team member touched her neck. Fiona saw two white feet standing in front of Alex.

Alex now says the torches can be turned back on.
Alex asks Solomon to ask the big man with the lantern to knock on the wooden ceiling. No response. Christine is seeing a presence in the room. Alex is for some reason moving his right hand in a particular way. He asks Bob who would do these movements. Bob informs the group it would be prisoners repairing? old ropes. Alex is only doing this with one hand. Bob says it is possible to do it with one hand. On video playback, there are multiple very deep and very loud breathing sounds heard. It is like someone is standing right in front of the mike and breathing into it. Alex asks Solomon to step back into the doorway which leads to a small recess which in turn overlooks the top floor corridor. The heavy breathing picked up on video now ceases.

Fiona is picking up a spirit by the right shoulder of Alex. The name Mary Mckinnon is given to Fiona. There is a noise heard like someone stepping on twigs. Christine feels a rush of energy go past. Alex is still twiddling his fingers. This spirit just will not let go. Paul picks up on a spirit who gives the name Gordon McKenzie. Gordon is not a member of staff. He was a prisoner here.
Spirit finally lets go of Alex' hand. Paul’s left foot goes totally numb. An energy is blocking the path of Alex. Christine is seeing a black shadow chest height in front of Alex. Christine asks Alex if he feels like his chest is being pushed in. Alex says he is getting pushed back. Christine says what is in front of Alex is a guard and he is "sussing" Alex out.
Alex steps back a few paces. Billy says someone is standing on his foot. No team member is near his feet. Christine says the shadow is still there. Paul is seeing something in the recess mentioned earlier. Alex decides to push past the spirit of the guard and go into the recess. He is followed by Paul. There is a presence there but it is not identifying itself.

Paul is looking out the small window and feels he should be "out there." Spirit is quite angry he is in prison.

Alex takes the team down to the cells.

The team go into a cell. There is one hammock in this cell. Ian and Billy step over the hammock to make room for other team members to enter the cell. Once the team has settled, the team realise the cell is ice cold. The central heating is still on so there is no reason for it to be cold. Alex is picking up a strong energy coming from a fishing net in the cell. Christine is getting a tingly sensation in her fingers when near the net. Alex asks if anyone in the group would like to start the vigil. Christine asks if there are any spirits present to show themselves in anyway they wish.

Alex counts the members in the group. He is counting eleven people. He counts again as there should only be ten people there. He then asks the group to give there names. Ten names are given. Alex then asks Ian to film every member of the group including himself. Ten people counted. Joanne is picking up on an eleventh presence as is Christine. Joanne picks up the name Winnie McIntyre. Alex asks the group to ask who the male spirit is and why he is here. Joanne and Christine both say murder at the same time. He murdered a relation. He was not deported. Alex asks why he was not deported. No response. Alex asks Billy to move away from the bed as he is about to ask Solomon to move the bed. He then changes his mind and asks Christine and Joanne to lightly rest there hands on the bed. Christine cannot get her hand on the bed. Joanne says the bed is freezing.

After some words of encouragement, Christine puts her hand on the bed. Both Joanne and Christine immediately remove their hands from the bed and ask Billy if he moved it. Billy is not close enough to the bed to move it without being seen so it was not Billy who moved the bed. Ian reports he did not see the bed move through the camera viewfinder.
Alex asks the girls to put their hand back on the bed. Billy is asked to go back as far as he can so we can discount him touching the bed. Alex asks Joanne and Christine to relax as much as they can as they are going to see and hear the spirit who is present. The bed moves again and this time both video cam operators Paul and Ian confirm the movement was seen through the viewfinders.

Once again, Christine and Joanne put their hand on the bed. The bed is moving again. This time the girls keep their hands on the bed. Alex asks he girls to describe what they are seeing. Alex asks what colour his hair is. Christine replies his hair is dark. Joanne says it is just above shoulder length. Both Joanne and Christine agree his hair is wavy.

Alex then asks what his eyebrows are like. Christine says big, bushy and brown. Joanne says his face looks "worn." He has a big mouth. Alex asks the girls if they are picking up a particular thing about this mans nose. Christine says it is broken it is pointing left and is quite big.. There is another feature Alex wants the girls to pick up on. Joanne says he has a scar on the left side of his nose. Unknown to Joanne and Christine, this is the side Alex is silently indicating to the rest of the team.
Alex asks about his ears. Christine and Joanne say his ears are long and pointed. The bed moves again. Christine says he has very sharp features and he is not a nice man at all.

The girls take their hands off the bed. This is acceptable at this point as firm communication has now been established. Alex asks what colour of skin he has. Christine says dark brown. Weather-beaten as opposed to nationality. Joanne says he is very grubby in appearance. Alex now asks the girls who the man killed and why he didn't make it to the ship. Alex also asks to ask him who killed him. Joanne keeps seeing he killed his mother. Christine is picking up he killed more than one person.
Both Joanne and Christine are picking up family members.

Alex then asks them to ask the name of the guard who brought his life to an end and what their relationship was. Something touches Christine’s stomach. Joanne picks up brother in law Christine picks up son. they then both pick up brother. Alex then asks the girls to ask what happened to the guard. They both said together he hung himself. His name was John. Alex and Paul both picked up someone hanging in the corridor earlier in the evening. Joanne and Christine both put their hand back on the bed and get an electric shock. Alex asks the girls to ask if there is anyway we can help the spirit. Spirit says he is happy here and does not want to leave. Alex assures spirit that they will not move him on. Spirit then says to tell John he is sorry. The spirit of John is standing behind Bob at this point. Bob is sitting in the cell doorway.

Alex then asks the girls to ask spirit what John is continually doing to him. Christine says John is tormenting him but he still does not wish to leave the prison. Alex asks Joanne and Christine to put their hand back on the bed to try and get a date when spirit passed. Christine picks up the date 1842 and Joanne gets 1907.

The team move to another cell.

In this cell is a manikin depicting a scene of a prisoner working with a fishing net. Once everyone has settled down, Alex asks spirit to move something which is on the shelf in the right hand corner of the cell. He asks spirit to move whatever is in the cup on the shelf. A definite noise is heard but nothing appears to have moved. Ian asks Paul to point his cam at the feet of Alex as he is getting a lot of orb like movement. If this was dust it would be all over the place and it would not be moving in a uniform direction although some of it is bound to be dust even although no team member is moving. Nobody is moving in the cell yet there is a lot of creaking as if someone is walking around the cell. Alex is seeing a small boy and girl running about the cell. They are brother and sister and are saying goodbye to their father who is being transported to Australia.

Alex asks spirit to move the towel on the towel rail. No movement. Joanne picks up the little boys name as Benjamin.
Alex sees the little girl go towards Christine. Christine suddenly reports someone is touching her ankles and pulling her top down at the back. Alex did not tell Christine the girl was moving towards her. Joanne is now picking up a Welsh connection which has something to do with the boy and girl. Joanne is now seeing movement next to Wilma.
Joanne once again said the family are from Wales. Christine is seeing the spirit from the cell we were last in. The allotted time for this vigil is now up so Alex calls a halt.

Alex now leads the team into another room.

Wilma feels very uncomfortable in this room. The room depicts the scene as a guards room. The first thing Alex picks up is the bed should not be here. He also picks up the fact that this is not a guards room but more like a room for medical examinations. Alex is again seeing a young girl being savagely attacked. She is being abused by someone who should be trusted. Joanne is crying. Wilma is seeing abuse also as is Christine. Joanne picks up on the fact the young girl died. Alex suddenly points to a spot in the room and says the young girl is showing herself. He asks Ian to get the camera on the girl. Christine lets out a small cry of despair. The room temperature drops dramatically and Paul remarks he is freezing. Ian says he is Baltic. (Extremely cold) As several team members are now extremely upset by what they are seeing and feeling, it is decided to end the vigil. Alex silently calms the child. As with spirit earlier, the girl does not want to leave the prison.

Alex takes the team downstairs to another room which is directly below the one they were just in. Alex feels this is the guards room. Alex picks up the name Jennifer. She is suffering from T.B. Jennifer is sixteen years of age and is here because she received money by deception. Alex is seeing a Pickwick type character. This is the man she robbed. Alex feels this is the room prisoners came to if they were going to be told bad news. Alex is picking up a medical officer by the name of Black. Paul and Ian report the facial features of Alex is changing as he is speaking. Nothing further is picked up here so Alex calls a halt to the vigil.

On leaving the block, the attention of Alex is drawn to the old washroom.

This room depicts a scene of a male prisoner having a bath. There is a lot of residual energy here. Some unseen presence tells Alex there were nineteen prisoners who had there head held under the water here. Seven of the prisoners died, two of which were young boys. During the break, Alex asks Jim and Mike to accompany him to the room Alex and his team had just left. On the way to the room in the new cell block, Alex sees the spirit of a young boy just outside the block door. Alex had picked up on this boy when they were on the familiarisation tour earlier. The boy is quite young, naked and is being beaten by a guard with what looks like a stiff piece of leather which is about 12 inches long and tapering to a point.
The boys name is Raymond Whitton and he is getting beaten because he refused to sleep with the guard. Alex is expecting to find blood on the wall but none is seen.

Up in the room which Alex is seeing as a medical room, Alex is seeing a small sixteen year old boy. This boy was standing on the stairs when we first came into the building but was too scared to talk. The boy tells Mike that Joseph his name. Joseph, like other people in here has been beaten severely. Mike feels as if Joseph is standing near his left shoulder. Alex asks Mike to ask Joseph to show Mike what he showed Alex earlier. Joseph is showing Mike him standing at a table with the man standing beside him. The man has an evil sarcastic smile on his face. The boy is too traumatised to communicate. Mike hears the boy sobbing. The boys father beat him up not far from here. The boy was also beaten in here. When asked who beat him up in here, the boy replied "those bastards." Mike is now freezing cold. The room temperature is eighteen point zero.

Mike picks up the name Gragsley ? Joseph Gragsley. This is the young boy who was beaten up. Alex asks Mike to try and pick up on the spirit of the girl. Alex is indicating with his hand how tall he sees her as. Mike also indicates with his hand how tall she is seeing her. There is about two inches of difference. Jim asks if she has long or short hair. Mike says longish blond hair. She has an uncommon name and is about fourteen years of age well dressed and well spoken. Mike sees her as a reverends daughter. Nothing more is being picked up so it is decided to end the vigil.

Mini vigil (Whipping table cell)

Some unseen presence is standing by Christine’s left side. The spirit, who does not identify itself, takes hold of Christine’s left arm and is gently moving it. Paul, who is standing beside Christine can feel the energy to her left. Christine is "freaking out" and says she does not like it in here. She regains her composure quite quickly and moves away from the area. Joanne is reporting her arms are really cold. Christine’s right hand is very warm and her left hand very very cold. While coming out of the cell, Paul reports someone behind him moaning. Paul was the last person out of the cell. Out in the corridor, Christine, Wilma, Joanne and David hear something being dragged along the corridor. They ask if any team member was dragging something. Nobody was. Back in a downstairs cell, David asks any spirit present to make themselves known. An orb like presence is seen floating in front of Joanne. Nothing further is reported.

Third vigil Courtroom full team.

Alex asks everyone to settle down and asks any spirit present to make themselves known in any way they can. Alex asks which team member is whispering. Nobody was. Alex asks again for spirit to make themselves known. Alex once again hears water running. Confirmed by Christine who says it is like someone pouring water into a glass. Fiona reports something is pulling her hair. Christine confirms some presence is standing behind Fiona. Mike hears some whispering coming from the doorway at the left side of the court. Jim reports some presence is standing behind Billy. Alex has already seen the presence and is on his way over to Billy. There is a definite energy there but no indication as yet who or what it is.

Fiona feels very emotional and wants to cry. Jim is reporting a cold spot down his left side. Mike is also reporting a cold spot. Christine hears footsteps on the wooden floor. Heard by several team members and are clear on video playback. Several team members are now hearing some unseen presence pacing up and down on the wooden floor behind the benches.
Fiona senses some presence sitting beside her. Confirmed by Alex and Christine. Christine reports seeing lights coming from the area where Fiona is sitting and moving upwards. Jim reports someone is sitting behind him and Mike. Jim reports a tingling in his back is getting stronger. Alex is continually seeing a shadow go from the door at the right side of the court (where the Lego experiment is) right round the back of the gallery to behind Jim and then back again.

Alex is now seeing a man standing in the dock. He is surprised the man is wearing a hat in court. It is a three cornered hat. He is also wearing a long dark coat. No indication as to who he is. Jim reports hearing a child’s voice coming from the door at the left of the court. David asks which team members are in the front row beside Alex. Alex is not in the front row and only manikins are there. David and Christine report they see some movement there. Alex, who is sitting in the back row beside Fiona reports Fiona is picking up the name Mary or Marie Jenkins. Fiona asks if there is a team member standing over beside the shutter at the far side of the court. There is no team member there but this is the area where Alex keeps seeing the walking shadow and also where the first vigil Alex held in the court, Paul had sensed a presence.

Joanne and Wilma are picking up movement in the area just behind the jury. This again is part of the area where Alex can quite clearly see the shadow. Fiona is picking up Mary/Maries age as between 23 and 27 and is here watching someone she loved being tried. She is upset because the person was found guilty. Alex asks if Mary/ Marie was pregnant. Fiona and Christine agree she was. This would account for the pains Fiona is feeling. Alex who is standing in the area where the movement is being reported, feels a presence go past him and towards Paul. Jim senses some presence moving back towards the room where the Lego experiment is. This again is in the area where Alex is still seeing the moving shadow. Paul now moves just through the doorway which leads from the court to the Lego experiment room.

Alex sees a light down Paul’s right side going from his shoulder to the floor. Alex asks Bob if there is anyone else in the building apart from the people in this room. He is told no. Alex sees definite movement in the doorway leading to the Lego room. Alex asks spirit to do something everyone can see. Alex is now seeing sparkly lights by Paul’s elbow. Jim asks if they are green. Alex confirms they are but is surprised Jim can see Paul’s shoulder from where he is sitting as Paul is now right out of the courtroom. Paul moves and Jim then realises that what he saw was not Paul. Jim is seeing a presence to the left of the doorway inside the courtroom.
Christine says she can see a manikins face changing. Paul is now reporting a very strong smell of tobacco. This is not cigarette tobacco.

Mike is sensing someone standing behind Christine. Alex, Paul, Mike, Christine and a cameraman go back into the room where the Lego experiment is set up. While there, the vigil in the main courtroom seems to come to a full stop. There is so much noise coming from the courtroom it is difficult to concentrate in the Lego experiment room. Alex looks back into the courtroom and only one person is talking so the question is where was all the chatter coming from? Jim asks if Bill Wilson/Bilson would talk to his son Paul. while the other team are in the Lego room. Just at that, the other members come back from he lego room. Paul asks Bill if he could come up with legal evidence which is documented. Maybe the name of a case or something similar. Mike hears the word slavery. Christine and Jim hear footsteps over to Jims right. Jim asks if there is a particular case to do with slavery which he could tell Paul about. Christine reports someone just touched her arm. Alex reports the floor is bouncing as if some very heavy footed presence is walking behind him. Nothing further appears to be happening so the vigil is brought to an end.

Fourth vigil old cell block full team.

For the next vigil, we go back to a cell in the old cell block. Alex asks the team to sit on the floor and get as comfy as they can. Once everyone is settled, Alex asks everyone to join hands and imagine a ball of light coming from their right hand and going into the left hand of the person next to them. Alex them asks the team to imagine the light now going in the opposite direction.
After a few moments an energy is felt going round the room. Jim is getting a breeze on his face. Alex then asks spirit to make itself known to anyone in the group they wish. Mike feels energy at his right shoulder. Christine feels spirit coming very close to her. The spirit is showing itself to Christine as a female and gives the name Morag Henderson. She tells Christine she worked here. Christine sees her washing clothes. Morag now tells Christine she was a prisoner here. Alex asks Morag how old she was when she passed and gets the answer via Christine of 32 years old.

Christine tells us Morag says she was born in the year 1504. Jim asked Christine how many days a week Morag worked here. No response. Sean is now feeling spirit coming close. Ian is now feeling very cold, especially his back. Jim says Sean’s aura is now quite wide. Christine now tells us Morag worked here for six days.
Sean is now getting very emotional. Sean points out it is not him who is getting emotional but rather the spirit which is coming close to him. He feels spirit is "banging herself off the walls." Spirit tells Sean she can't believe she is in a prison cell. There are footsteps heard in the corridor just outside the cell. Alex hears a noise which is like a lock getting locked and Christine is hearing banging. This happens several times. We have no explanation for this.

Alex asks spirit to do something inside the cell rather than in the corridor. No response. Alex asks again. There is a small groan heard by Ian and several other team members. Nothing is heard on camera. Alex asks again. No response. Footsteps are heard again outside the cell by Jim, Christine and Alex. There is another noise. Alex says there is someone turning a key in a lock. Christine says she heard a door shutting. The only people in this building are the people in the cell.

Nothing else seems to be happening and the place seems to have suddenly gone very quiet.

The investigation was concluded at around 5.30 am.

Conclusions :-
Inveraray Jail is definitely "haunted" by many spirits. In particular, a number of children, two ladies, four male prisoners and two staff members. Despite the negative energies in a small area of the building, we feel the spirits who are resident here are in the main happy and do not wish to move on. We are very much looking forward to our follow up investigation in the near future.
This investigation yielded several names of staff, court officials, prisoners and prison visitors. Those names are as follows.

· Sarah Mcgloughlin
· Tommy
· Joseph
· Jimmy Morrison
· Alice
· John Coughlin
· William Wilson/Bilson
· Jessie
· Andrew Marie
· Helen/Helena or Elaina
· E. McPherson
· John Edwards
· William Sheene?,
· Sarah
· Tavistock
· Jenkins
· Jean Murphy
· Elizabeth Hardwell/Caldwell
· Mary McKinnon
· Gordon McKenzie
· Winnie McIntyre
· John
· Benjamin
· Jennifer
· Dr. Black
· Raymond Whitton
· Joseph Gragsley
· Marie Jenkins
· Morag Henderson

Experiments used :-
Card trigger object :- No movement
Lego trigger object :- No movement.

Report compiled by Jim, Mike and Alex

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