A woman was sexually assaulted by a celebrity psychic healer who claimed he had worked with the likes of Robbie Williams and Dua Lipa, a court heard.
Pete MacDonald, 77, is said to have gained the woman’s trust with a tarot card reading before she returned for a psychic healing session.
The complainant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said: ‘I thought if all these people with lots of money are using him, he must be good.’
She said MacDonald claimed he worked with stars including actors Ralph and Joseph Fiennes and held special retreats for them, in order to gain her trust.
But during one faith healing session the 77-year-old psychic indecently assaulted her after getting her to strip and lie on his bed, a jury heard.
The woman told the court that when she questioned why she had to be naked MacDonald told her ‘you need to be in this state to get these spirits out’.
She said he had made a ‘special oil’ for her which he proceeded to rub in with his hands up and down her body.
During the session he touched her breasts put his hand down her underwear, it is alleged.
Pete MacDonald, 77, is said to have gained the woman’s trust with a tarot card reading before she returned for a psychic healing session
The woman also said MacDonald told her to ‘blow out the bad spirits’ in her by blowing into his mouth.
He then told her he was going to use a ‘fireblow’ technique, which involved him using his mouth on her body, the court was told.
The woman said she felt uncomfortable but was ‘under a spell’ and was unable to tell him to stop.
She later told her sister and boyfriend what had happened and reported the incident to police shortly after.
MacDonald has worked as a tarot card reader and psychic consultant for more than 30 years.
The complainant went to see him in August 2021 at his home in Shaftesbury, Dorset, to help lift her spirits after going through a bad time in her personal life.
She said: ‘He came highly recommended. (My boyfriend) had been to see him previously and he predicted a lot of things that had come true.
‘Lots of other people had used him, rich and famous people. He did a lot of name dropping – Robbie Williams and Dua Lipa had used his services.
It is claimed that MacDonald got her to lie on his bed, take off her top and then ran his hands up and down her body
‘He was name dropping celebrities – Ralph Fiennes and his brother, said he was best friends with Johnnie Walker, the Radio 2 presenter, that he heavily recommended him. I thought if all these people with lots of money are using him, he must be good.
‘Name dropping again he said he had run these retreats in the past with healing sessions for singers and popstars and they had been successful.
‘He just gave me the impression he was a decent, trustworthy guy. I thought he could provide me with some answers about life decisions I was in the process of making.’
She said MacDonald totally convinced her when she met him for the first time for a tarot card reading and had ‘hit the nail on the head’ with what he told her.
She told Bournemouth Crown Court: ‘There were a lot of things he said that I thought there’s no way he could know about me.
‘Things about my family and friends, and past experiences, and things he predicted about the future. I was quite bowled over by how good he was.’
MacDonald told her he thought she would benefit from a psychic healing session to ‘draw the bad spirits out’.
A second session was arranged for August 29, 2021 which cost the woman £180 and included a female chaperone.
Bournemouth Crown Court, pictured, heard how the woman first went to see MacDonald for her tarot cards to be read at his home in Shaftesbury, Dorset
She said: ‘I had a really positive feeling he was going to make a difference and change my life, I guess probably naively.
‘I was really sucked in by everything he was saying. I completely trusted him at that point.’
When the woman commented that she hadn’t realised she would be naked MacDonald said ‘I don’t get the horn when I do this, you need to be in this state to get these spirits out’, it was claimed.
She added: ‘I felt uncomfortable but I didn’t want to cause a scene. I had not read around what’s involved so I didn’t know if it was a bona fide healing method. I didn’t want to embarrass myself by saying ‘hang on, this isn’t right’.
‘Each time he went further down. He mentioned he was going on to a ‘fireblow’, that’s when he started using his mouth on my body.
‘He asked how I was feeling on a scale of 1-10. I think he was gauging my reaction.
‘In my head I thought if I give him a high score it would be over quicker because he would be healing me quicker.
‘I felt like I was almost under a spell in that bedroom, I was not able to tell him to stop.
‘Afterwards he said it’s best not to discuss with anyone as I’m in the healing process.
‘I barely slept that night and I googled what is meant by a healing session.. I thought he’s got a website, he’s being paid to do this and I thought I need to report this.
‘The jury also heard from the woman’s partner, who picked her after the session. He said she was ‘bordering on hysterical’ when she got in the car and immediately questioned what had just happened.
When interviewed by police MacDonald said what she described had not happened. He said he may have touched her breasts inadvertently but his fingers were not inside her underwear and did not touch her private parts.
MacDonald is charged with four counts of sexual assault.
He is not present at Bournemouth Crown Court after two experts found he was not fit to stand trial.
Instead a jury will not find him guilty or not guilty but undertake a fact-finding exercise to decide if he ‘did the acts’.
The trial continues.