Have devil worshippers attacked the home of a devout Christian? The evidence suggests not.
If you awoke to find that white paint had been thrown at your window – certainly an unpleasant discovery first thing in the morning, or at any time for that matter – who would you blame? Local vandals? Miscreant teenagers? Perhaps even neighbours that you had some sort of dispute with? All, perhaps, more likely figures of blame than “forces of the occult”, unless you are John Peacock of Norwich, who believes himself to be a target for Satanists because of his Christian faith. Or because of his own self-importance. Who can say?
The full, horrific story: Peacock, 70, awoke the other day to find that “paint had covered my window, path and bits of my front garden”. ‘Covered’ might be a slight exaggeration – see the photos from the Norwich Evening News, which, of course, ran the story with all the breathless credulity we might expect from local papers desperate for news – but it’s certainly an unpleasant bit of vandalism. To make matters worse, the villains even left their paint can in his bushes. I hope Peacock held onto it, as surely it contains fingerprint and DNA evidence.
Or maybe not, as Peacock has blamed ‘dark forces’ on the attack – perhaps even Satan himself, in which case fingerprints will probably not be a help. But this is all supposition on my part (as, indeed, is the entire story of ‘black magic’ on his). Here are the facts of the case: “I heard some strange noises in the night, but I didn’t think anything of it”, says Peacock. Very sensible – ‘strange noises in the night’ are generally left uninvestigated until the hours of daylight, as any regular viewer of horror films can tell you. In the morning, his son called him to see the damage and Peacock’s mind began working overtime.
He claims that they were ‘probably’ aiming at the crucifix on display in his window, though their aim was somewhat off if that was the case – if anything, it looks more likely that they had taken exception to the teddy bear in the adjoining window. Still, Peacock immediately blamed devil worshippers and placed a call to the local press. He told local hack William Warnes “I believe this is retribution for run-ins I have had before,”, the sort of intriguingly ambiguous comment that a proper journalist might have followed up on – run-ins with who, exactly? Local Satanists? Is this some sort of Norfolk take on The Devil Rides Out? Are we seeing a folk horror film made reality? Just who are these dark forces of the occult and why were they not contacted for comment? Given that he claims that his son’s car was similarly targeted a couple of years ago, this seems worthy of further investigation by an ambitious journalist.
“Unfortunately I think this is a sad reflection of being a Christian today” says Peacock, and perhaps this is true. He certainly seems to be the sort of Christian who makes enemies – either by interfering with their legal right to be Satanists of whatever sort or simply by being a local busybody and serial complainer, who can say for sure? Not to piss too much on his theory of “forces of the occult” massing against him, but you’d think that any self-respecting devil worshipper would choose black paint to really hammer home the point – or maybe up their ambitions a bit from ‘throwing a bit of paint on a window’. Perhaps – and I know this is way out there as a theory – Peacock has made other enemies over the years. Indeed, a quick search reveals that just two years ago, Peacock – something of a regular complainer in the local papers as it turns out – was claiming that “the local cycling fraternity” was plotting against him in a battle over road safety.
Wait a minute – wasn’t it two years ago that the last paint attack happened? Hmm. The plot thickens. As the local police investigate Satanic cults and other occultists, maybe the answer lies in the excitable cyclist community – a more provenly excitable group. We may never know the sinister truth.
DAVID FLINT
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