In response to the Advertiser Groups challenge to Looch. A Facebook page was been set up to cover the event in the days leading up to the prediction. You can view the the events history here: The Prediction
In late December 2011, The Newark Advertiser issued a challenge to Nottinghamshire based mind reader Looch. They wanted to put his skills to the test by having him predict the final score of a Rugby match between Newark RUFC & Melton Mowbray. The match was to be played on the afternoon of Saturday 7th January 2012, upon agreeing to the challenge a series of stipulations were given to ensure everything was fair and to eliminate the possibility of trickery. These were the stipulations put on Looch:
- The prediction must be delivered on the morning of the match
- The prediction must be sealed in an envelope
- The prediction would be held over night by the Nottinghamshire Police
- The envelope would have identifiable markings placed on it by the police
- The envelope would be placed inside a tamper proof evidence bag
- The Prediction would be kept secure in a time lock vault
- Looch would not be allowed to touch the time lock vault
- Looch would not be allowed to the Rugby match
- Looch would not be told the score of the match until the prediction had been opened
- The prediction itself would be removed from inside the envelope by a reporter from the Advertiser
The scene was set
Looch began working on his prediction, researching the previous scores of both teams. On form, Newark seemed the likely choice to win and they had won many of their league matches by a high and convincing score. Of course, the more wins a team generates, its only a matter of time before they lose and although Meltons previous ten games showed several losses themselves, it was entirely possible they could provide an upset on the 7th.
In the week leading up to the match, the weather in the Newark area was unsettled and playing havoc with the prediction. Drop goals and conversions would have to be re-evaluated due to the high wind. Would the score be as high as previous games?
On Thursday 5th January, The Newark Advertiser ran a small one paragraph article announcing that Looch had accepted the challenge and the outcome would be recorded for a larger feature to be published the week after the match on Thursday 12th January.
Unbeknown to the Advertiser, Looch had already made his prediction on Wednesday 4th January, He had sealed it in a bubble wrapped envelope and dated it. He then went online and uploaded a video to YouTube discussing his thoughts and subsequent outcome of the game. This can be viewed here (Please note the upload date)
The Big Day
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At 9:30am on Saturday 7th January, Looch delivered his sealed prediction to Newark police station. He was greeted by a representative from the Advertiser and Sergeant Mortimore who took Looch upstairs into a secure evidence room. The prediction was handed over to the Sergeant who marked the envelope for identification. The markings were in the form of a drawing, specifically a box.
Once the envelope had been marked, the envelope was then sealed inside a tamper proof evidence bag which was sealed and then locked into a time lock safe. At no point during this did Looch have any control as to what markings were put on the envelope and which safe the prediction was the be locked into.
Sergeant Mortimore announced that the prediction would be kept inside the safe overnight and the password needed to unlock the safe was only known to her. She informed Looch and the Advertiser that she would meet us the next morning for the revealing of the prediction.
The match was to kick off at 2:15pm that afternoon, Looch was not allowed at the match and instead was invited to an interview by the Ashton family for the In-touch Community magazine.
He returned the police station at 9:30am on Sunday 8th January to reveal the prediction to a reporter, photographer and Sergeant Mortimore. Looch was not allowed to remove the prediction from the safe. The tamper proof evidence bag was checked and cut open to remove the bubble wrapped envelope. This was checked and confirmed by the police that there were no signs of tampering. The envelope was finally cut open, and the contents removed by reporter Andrew Miller.
The Prediction
So just what exactly did Looch predict? Read the article below to find out.
