‘White witch’ barrister who faces prison for stalking wizard, 82
A BARRISTER known as the ‘White Witch of Rye’ is facing jail for harassing a wizard after battering her way into his home.
Barbara Maura Lane, 42, is said to have become obsessed with selfproclaimed wizard Alfred Douglas after signing up for a magic course.
Mr Douglas, 82, is a world-renowned expert on tarot cards and the occult, and even advised the late actor Peter Sellers.
Lane admitted harassment and criminal damage after breaking into Mr Douglas’ home and smashing a glass door and a greenhouse.
She also deluged the author with calls and texts, leading to a stalking charge. The legal editorial associate, who works for media company Thomson Reuters, first visited the wizard’s home in Rye, East Sussex, on the pretext of seeing his library on the occult.
In 2020, she persuaded him to let her stay, claiming she had nowhere to live after her father died and mother suffered a stroke.
But soon, friends and family raised concerns that the elderly widower appeared to be falling under her spell. Mr Douglas’ nephew Paul Wilson-Patterson recalled: ‘They became inseparable. She had his bank card and control of his bank account.
‘She controlled what he ate, what he drank, the clothes he wore, who he saw and when he saw them.’
Lane, nicknamed locally as the White Witch of Rye, is said to have lied to locals about being his carer, falsely suggesting the academic was senile. She also allegedly isolated him from friends.
Mr Douglas was later to tell police that he felt ‘intimidated’ by her ‘coercive behaviour’ as Lane often told him he was old, sick and dying, even kicking his calves to get him to move quicker.
Relatives’ fears grew when Lane began to fly into drunken rages, smashing crockery at his home after downing mugfuls of gin.
Mr Wilson-Patterson was horrified to discover his uncle had changed his will, making Lane the sole beneficiary of his home and shop – worth around £1.5million.
He said: ‘Maura was prone to these ferocious rages and would go around smashing glassware, ceramics and things in the house.
Alfred was terrified but he didn’t know what to do.’
He said his uncle eventually had ‘big bolts’ put on his bedroom door to protect himself. Mr Douglas later told officers he had to wedge a chair and piles of books against the door after Lane broke the lock by battering her way into his bedroom one night.
He described how she stood at the foot of his bed smirking before throwing books at him. Despite this attack in March last year, he decided not to call police.
But relatives feared for his life. Mr Wilson-Patterson’s wife Anna said: ‘We thought we’d visit and find him dead at the bottom of the stairs... she was like a succubus [demon].’ Things came to a head on Coronation Day last May when Lane, an Irish republican, flew into a rage on seeing a portrait of the King and Union Jack bunting in Mr Douglas’ shop.
She is said to have punched the elderly shop manager before turning on Mr Douglas, smashing up his greenhouse and pushing him out of his home. When his family arrived to help, Lane is alleged to have hit Mr Wilson-Patterson and thrown hot tea over his wife.
She then smashed a glass panel on Mr Douglas’ front door.
Unrepentant, Lane told police she was his carer and was owed £6,000. But she has now been charged with seven offences including stalking, criminal damage and assault of Mr Douglas and his family.
On the first day of her trial on Monday at Brighton Magistrates’ Court, Lane pleaded guilty to harassment without violence and criminal damage.
Judge David Rennie warned Lane she could be jailed. He ordered that the remaining charges lay on file. Lane was released on bail ahead of sentencing on July 5.
‘She had control of his bank account’