The ghost-free shopping centre

Wednesday 23rd March 2011, 2:57PM GMT.

Rhianna Hughes at Liberty Wharf

A PSYCHIC called in to cleanse former abattoir Liberty Wharf of the souls of dead animals says that the shopping centre is ghost-free.

Rhianna Hughes, who describes herself as a medium and Wiccan, or witch, said that there was ‘nothing bad down there’ but that she still performed the ritual.

It normally involves burning a bundle of herbs, known as smudge sticks, but for health and safety reasons Ms Hughes was not allowed to start a fire.

‘I sprinkled the herbs on the floor and asked for positive energy,’ she said. ‘Cleansing moves on stagnant energy and when I next went down there it felt a lot better.’


Read the full story in the Jersey Evening Post. Click here for subscription details. Individual editions are also available online.


  1. 1
    Donkey

    What a load of Bullocks !

    Report abuse

  2. 2
    truthseeker

    Please……….

    Report abuse

  3. 3
    David

    Do I live in XXI centruy or Middle Ages times?

    Report abuse

  4. 4
    bella

    LOL
    As if that will make any difference.
    The wrong type of shops don’t help either.
    Put some shops that every-one would benefit excluding home-ware,clothes etc there are enough of them in town already.

    Report abuse

  5. 5
    Mogit

    It will take more than this to get me down there !!!

    Report abuse

  6. 6
    small business

    No ghosts & no customers

    Report abuse

  7. 7
    Jay

    Can she not sprinkled the herbs on the floor and asked for positive energy in the Le marquand house, police station,youth center and all over the island.

    The island needs you

    Report abuse

  8. 8
    Mike

    ROFL Slow news day eh? Well, no harm done, unless the taxpayer had to foot the bill of course…

    Report abuse

  9. 9
    Voice of Reason

    Sigh… how ridiculous can you get? And who on earth paid for this woman’s “supernatural” services?!

    Report abuse

  10. 10
    Seriously Sam

    She definitely missed a trick if Ms Hughes didn’t get paid by the states at least £120k for her consultation services in this vital matter !

    Report abuse

  11. 11
    Pedigree Bean

    I know Mrs Hughes and putting everyone straight, she did NOT get paid for the work she did and it was set up by Constable Simon Crowcrofts personal assistant! Some people are more sensative than others and a number of people were concerned that it used to be an abbatoir, this was why Rhianna was approached and asked to do the cleansing!
    Dont knock what u havent experienced!

    Report abuse

  12. 12
    Leah Holmes

    :-D Such a brilliant end to a tough day.

    Report abuse

  13. 13
    Es

    An island of cynics! It’s all true I tell you! Nice one no. 12 a great end to a tough day

    Report abuse

  14. 14
    Pip Clement

    “I know Mrs Hughes and putting everyone straight, she did NOT get paid for the work she did and it was set up by Constable Simon Crowcrofts personal assistant!”

    Work?
    She ambled around for a bit, scattered a few herbs, uttered an incantation or two and that was it.
    Not exactly back breaking.
    And she will have enquiries from people who want a bit of Romany Gypsy Magick!

    Report abuse

  15. 15
    Day V Lately

    I went there during my lunch hour the other day, it wasn’t cold or windy getting there (for a change!) and still I found myself totally alone in the main corridor.

    Who’d be mad enough to set up shop there with such miniscule footfall?

    Report abuse

  16. 16
    Spring Heeled Jack

    Funny.
    No ghosts but she still performed the ritual. Well actually didn’t perform the ritual as she was not allowed to burn some herbs.
    Instead some herbs were sprinkled on the floor.
    If there were any ghosts of lambs I bet they were real impressed with even more herbs being thrown around ( mint sauce anyone?).
    No ghosts, no shops, no customers. Just a witch throwing some grass cuttings on the ground and making a bit of a mess.
    Lucky she wasn’t carted off to the Royal Square for a bonfire of her own!
    - where’s the witchfinder general when you need him ?

    Report abuse

  17. 18
    Mona Lot

    Take away the ghosts and there is absolutely nothing left!

    Report abuse

  18. 19
    noah

    does that mean non of the shops can sell spirits now????

    Report abuse

  19. 20
    Toilet Cafes

    It reminds me of the 1981 Specials tune “Ghost Town”. The irony, of course, is that the Waterfront, together with the antics of the states, is indeed set to render St Helier a “Ghost Town”. Perhaps we should invite the Specials over here to shoot a video in what is left of St Helier and they can re-release the tune.

    Report abuse

  20. 21
    Anon - sadly !

    Well i was quoted the following terms for a VERY modest unit at Liberty Wharf, and having been quoted the rental terms you might understand my reluctance to start a business there……… Here come the figures.

    They wanted,
    Applicants for a 9 Year lease.
    MORE THAN £49,000 / year.
    Plus a significant contribution towards security costs AND you would be responsible for the landlords maintenance AND their insurance bill.
    Hmm, i wonder why there are so many empty units.

    Now just supposing i wanted to employ two people, pay social security on their wages, and pay the rent and make a modest profit, ( allowing for sickness, holidays, and own running costs – elec, rates etc ) i would need to take in excess of £1000 gross per day EVERY DAY.

    The problem with Jersey shops is not greedy shopkeepers.

    Report abuse

  21. 22
    highway

    Everything is always closed down there or not even finished ,its a ghost town there!! hee hee that corridor there all you see is tumble weed and a howling wind!! If ya want some ghost stuff get yourself down to the old norma jeans pub now varda heard lots of old spooky goings on there from about 10 years ago was there once years ago and the staff who lived there were saying all sorts then one day when having a pint with a friend she said she felt a bad presence there and that was after hearing spooky stories from staff, only then i let on that some strange things were going on in that building. Interesting stuff eh?

    Report abuse

  22. 23
    Esther Journeaux

    Come on guys ease up.

    Did she hurt anyone? Did she threaten anyone with eternal damnation? Did she try convert anyone? Did she try to con any cash out of anyone? Did she inconvenience anyone in any way?

    If it matters to her and she did none of the above then leave her be.

    I personally find door-to-door god salesmen far more ridiculous, not to mention bloody irritating.

    Report abuse

  23. 24
    Said as Seen

    All people offering these ‘services’ are either deluded cranks or charlatans.

    Report abuse

  24. 25
    Mark

    Liberty Wharf should be grateful, at least the ghoul turned up for a bit of shopping. Truth is, somebody has build a shopping centre in the wrong place, far from the phantom customers/shoppers.

    Desperate PR, it is what this is.

    Toilet Cafes (20) Spot on.

    Report abuse

  25. 26
    jim

    what a laugh watching this on channel report so no ghosts also no people buying only in jersey what a joke and it cost £30 million pounds to build

    Report abuse

  26. 27
    Michael

    The ghost-free shopping centre, and a shoppers free Zone put an ASDA there and you wont have room for Ghosts it would be overflowing with shoppers get rid of the tosh there if you want to attract customers give us real value

    Report abuse

  27. 28
    Delta

    Pretty ironic given how Liberty Wharf has already been described as a ghost town!

    Report abuse

  28. 29
    UK Student

    Just need some shops there now, something that people will go out of their way to go to.

    Replace the M&S Home with John Lewis.

    Report abuse

  29. 30
    Day V Lately

    If they funnel the foot passenger daytrippers through from the harbour, then it will have some sort of future in the tourist season, but they might as well close it over winter!

    Report abuse

  30. 31
    trinity hero

    “Rhianna Hughes, who describes herself as a medium and Wiccan”

    Can someone explain why giving these people encouragement is a good thing?

    Report abuse

  31. 32
    Pip Clement

    I have heard that the rents are high compared with the town centre.
    To my mind it was built in the expectation that the Esplanade Financial Quarter would be built.
    Under the original master scheme that would be well under way now and a market of a thousand souls for ciabattas, skinny lattes, etc would be plonked right on it’s doorstep but sadly the best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft agley an’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain for promis’d joy! :-(

    Report abuse

  32. 33
    Dave

    Have Channel 103 arrange a Big Gig In The Slaughterhouse with an X-Factor loser. Might be able to add one or two customers.

    Report abuse

  33. 34
    Pip Clement

    “Can someone explain why giving these people encouragement is a good thing?”

    Why not?
    It is a harmless bit of crankiness.
    If people want to believe in the spirit in the sky her offerings are as good as any other with as much basis in fact.
    Modern Wiccans seem like a harmless bunch of coves compared with some religions so why should outsiders care what they get up to?
    They could get it Feng Shui’d next :-)

    Report abuse

  34. 35
    Bean About A Bit

    I had an uncle who was an exorcist. Everytime he came round to my house, all the spirits disappeared!

    Report abuse

  35. 36
    trinity hero

    “Why not?
    It is a harmless bit of crankiness.”

    Because its not harmless. It is dangerous, because it is part of the mumbo-jumbofication of society and it leads to homeopathy, fear of nuclear energy, a belief in “the establishment” and all the other trappings of a dull mind and a weak spirit.

    Report abuse

  36. 37
    Poltergoosed

    Can she please go to the states chambers and clear it of morons?

    Report abuse

  37. 38
    Beans meanz *****

    So Rhianna flew down to the abbatoir on a broomstick? Perhaps she could fly around the island and sprinkle some magic dust to get rid of all the nutters that charge around in there Range rovers flashing there lights up our backsides!

    Report abuse

  38. 39
    Eoin Cormac

    This is embarrassing.

    Report abuse

  39. 40
    Pip Clement

    “Because its not harmless. It is dangerous, because it is part of the mumbo-jumbofication of society and it leads to homeopathy, fear of nuclear energy, a belief in “the establishment” and all the other trappings of a dull mind and a weak spirit.”

    Well if you do not agree with religion then maybe you should look at the support of the Church of England by the parishes, the grants to the faith schools by the education department, the role of the Dean in the States and the fact that several members ran on the fact that they are regular attenders at the islands churches where bread and wine is converted either metaphorically or quite literally in to the body and blood of their god!
    I do not believe in Rhianna’s charms and potions, homeopathy or Christianity but I know people who do. They can stick to their beliefs and I will stick to mine.
    I have read the Golden Bough, a dated but interesting read in my teenage years and Fraser’s conclusions are quite radical for his time if you read between the lines of the somewhat veiled text.
    I think a rational case can be made for and against nuclear energy. It depends on how you evaluate the risks and the potential of the alternatives.
    Human beings are not totally rational. There is room for love and if you like a belief in a higher power alongside a belief in rationalism and human progress.
    I have known men and women who were good scientists but believed in a god as well and I do not think that any of them possessed dull minds or weak spirits!

    Report abuse

  40. 41
    jersey Boy

    At least we wont have to worry about any poultrygeists!

    :)

    Report abuse

  41. 42
    Deep

    @36 Trinity Hero

    This piece was amusing enough before you belssed us all with your stern warning… ahem… “it leads to homeopathy”. I laughed so hard I nearly soiled myself. I agree, I had a friend once who got into the wrong crowd and experimented with homeopathy. It was touch and go but eventually we managed to get him off it and onto heroin, but it was a close one. Might you just be a little scared of a bit of free thinking and alternative approaches?

    Report abuse

  42. 43
    JULIE

    Having just returned to Jersey for a brief visit I came out of Liberty Wharf with the same gloomy and depressed feeling which I have had when leaving the War Tunnels.The atmosphere is grim and this was on a sunny day!Had there been any customers it may have been a bit more cheerful but until there are some actual shops there to tempt the customers I guess it will remain that way.

    Report abuse

  43. 44
    trinity hero

    Deep(42)
    It’s not freethinking to believe in homeopathy. It is the opposite of freethinking, it is not thinking at all.

    Being freethinking means looking at evidence and considering whether, on balance, the beliefs that have been socially imposed on you are valid. There is lots of evidence for the power of placebos, but none at all for homeopathy. In fact, only a totaly unquestioning and gullible mind could beleve in homeopathy.

    I recommend you read “Bad Science” or “How Mumbo-Jumbo took over the world”. Then you might understand what “freethinking” means.

    Report abuse

  44. 45
    jerseygirlcapetown

    Hope she didn’t get a fine for littering!

    Report abuse

  45. 46
    bondit

    It is great that Jersey still has space for people other than bankers etc.

    Good for Rhianna Hughes, standing up for what she believes and proud of it.

    Three cheers for Rhianna, who is just as likely to be correct as all these guffawing and braying critics.

    Report abuse

  46. 47
    donald pond

    “Three cheers for Rhianna, who is just as likely to be correct as all these guffawing and braying critics”

    Why is she “just as likely to be correct”? Given that she has no qualifications and no evidence to support her claims, I would have thought she was almost certainly not likely to be correct.

    Put it another way – if she said the earth was flat would she be “just as likely to be correct” as those who think otherwise?

    As for “standing up for what she believes in”, does this praise apply to those who are racist, or sexist, or people who withold medical care from their children because they believe in the healing power of faith?

    As GK Chesterton said: “When people stop believing in God, they don’t believe in nothing—they believe in anything.”

    Report abuse

  47. 48
    Ashley F

    They used to slaughter cows in there – now they’re slaughtering businesses. Great to see the states maintain some continuity for a change.

    Still can’t believe that they got this woman in. Whether it was just a bit of fun or not is irrelevant. The shopkeepers (both of them) wont be laughing about it when they’re 100 thousand pounds down and having to let their staff go.

    Report abuse

  48. 49
    Ashley F

    Bondit – how can she stand up for what she believes when she knows better than anyone that it’s a load of rubbish? If she really does believe it then she needs help.

    Report abuse

  49. 50
    Pip Clement

    “As GK Chesterton said: “When people stop believing in God, they don’t believe in nothing—they believe in anything.”

    And is the belief in any one god more rational than belief in any other god?
    There is no objective evidence for the existence of any god or life after death, the credible rational position is that there are no gods at all and death is the end.
    A priest in any religion can have as many qualifications as they like, at the end of the day their stock in trade rests on no more than faith.
    A Wiccan can reverence the earth and cosmos and life on this planet which is more than lies at the heart of most religions.
    Personally I do not agree with her views but she is no more ridiculous than any other priest or shaman and she does not receive state supoport :-)

    Report abuse

  50. 51
    Abazan Amsalak

    Pond # 47 “As GK Chesterton said: “When people stop believing in God, they don’t believe in nothing—they believe in anything.”

    And what makes Chesterton right? Did he have qualifications or evidence to support his claims, as you seem to expect from Ms Hughes?

    Report abuse

  51. 52
    Catz Eye

    “Though all society is founded on intolerance, all improvement is founded on tolerance”, wrote playwright George Bernard Shaw.

    If one quality is the hallmark of an enlightened idividual or group, it is surely tolerance of different beliefs… and the right to peaceful expression of such by all.

    To quote another famous phrase attributed to writer and philosopher Voltaire, the idea that ” I may disagree with what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it”, is a basic fundamental of human rights.

    Today, willful ignorance and persecution of those holding alternative views then should be a memory from the dark ages, shouldn’t it? Apparently not always.

    In her article published in the JEP on March 25, Paula Thelwell condemns the sensitivities of those possibly appalled when thinking of the Liberty Wharf shopping mall being in a location once the bloodied scene of mass animal slaughter and pokes a sarcastic attempt at derisory humour towards vegetarians and those of Wiccan and similar beliefs. Wiccans live by one overriding principal, summarised: ” and it
    harm none, do as you will”. Surely this practice is temperance and tolerance itself and a courtesy that should at very least be returned. Vegetarianism is a life choice with benefits to the individual and many
    would say, the planet. Both groups surely deserve consideration?

    Had a Christian Blessing been performed upon a new building, as used to be a traditional amongst some when the corner stone was laid, would there be such redicule levied? Does anyone ever poke fun at the Blessing of The Fleet or Ploughs? Do not people of other beliefs deserve equal consideration? What harm can the peaceful cleansing rite which Rhianna Hughes (Galvin) performed do apart from evoke a hostile response from one person who appears not to take time to try to understand those who hold all life as precious including the lives of animals?

    In the interests of this tolerance I advocate, I will defend Ms Thelwell’s right to expression but ironically, her own words may condemn her for her own apparent intolerance. In her criticism , has she not taken a
    retrograde step towards those Medieval Times she spoke of when Dante wrote his masterpiece ” The Inferno” which she ironically quoted? At such times, many innocent people were burned at the stake for practice of healing arts others did not understand, a time of ruthless cruelty and hopeless intolerance. Perhaps in her harking back to such bigotry, those words “Abandon hope all ye who enter
    here” may be more appropriately hung over Ms Thelwell’s office door?

    Report abuse

  52. 53
    Jay

    No surprise it is not working.

    Take the stupid rent and lease.
    The GST
    Internet sales and ship to me

    No surprise I haven’t been there yet.
    These days you go for the cheapest alternative: internet.

    People even go and try shoes/clothes in a shop to order them on the web.

    How come everything is more expensive here when it should be cheaper? May be the witch can help me on that one

    Report abuse

  53. 54
    Pedigree Bean

    Pip Clement, believe what u want to believe in, but leave others beliefs alone! We know what we believe in,experienced enough and enough said!
    Mrs Hughes hasnt bad mouthed anyone, made money out of what she did, so whats the problem?
    I have never seen so much bitching in this island, sad to be honest! Have a good day!

    Report abuse

  54. 55
    Adrian

    It will blend in well with the area to the north of it – Ghost Town.

    Report abuse

  55. 56
    Pip Clement

    #54

    Read my posts carefully.
    I have poked a little fun at Rhianna Galvin but I have defended her right to believe in what she likes and stated that Wicca can be as valid as any other religion.
    The Christians are happy with their bread and wine and she can dance around in the moonlight sprinkling herbs.
    If anything, her religion sounds like more fun :-)

    Report abuse

  56. 57
    Day V Lately

    “As GK Chesterton said: “When people stop believing in God, they don’t believe in nothing—they believe in anything.”

    It baffles me why some people seem to be perfectly happy to accept spirits, an afterlife, angels and the paranormal, but they reject Christianity!

    If you’re going to believe in the unprovable, why not believe in the right thing to start with?!!

    Report abuse

  57. 58
    jersey spud

    @57. Day V Lately – ‘why not believe in the right thing to start with’ ….
    Spoken like a true Christian!! Have a little tolerance for other people will you……. how does it go again…. love thy neighbour?!?!?! I don’t believe in the improvable which is why I’m not a Christian or a Muslim or a Wiccan.

    Personally I don’t believe in any of those things you mentioned but what I do believe is that everyone has the right to their own beliefs and to not be judged by other people. There was no harm whatsoever done by Rhianna and I hope she hasn’t had to read through the nasty, narrow minded comments posted on here by some people.

    Report abuse

  58. 59
    Pip Clement

    “It baffles me why some people seem to be perfectly happy to accept spirits, an afterlife, angels and the paranormal, but they reject Christianity!

    If you’re going to believe in the unprovable, why not believe in the right thing to start with?!!”

    Why is Christianity the right thing as opposed to Islam, Buddhism, any other of the thousands of creeds, or a roll your own, mix and match, individual set of beliefs?
    Christianity itself is split in to dozens of sub types and several of my Christian friends looked around until they found something they liked. The Church of England in Jersey offers everything from Anglo Catholicism with plenty of ritual to free style worship with drums, guitars and dancing.
    If the priest’s views are too hardline or liberal for them then they pop down the road and find one more to their liking! :-)

    Report abuse

  59. 60
    God

    @57

    I suspect that you are suggesting that christianity is the “right thing”

    If so please provide conclusive, physical, tangible, verifiable, testable, corroborated, ‘it would stand up in court’ type of evidence of the one you call christ (as opposed to pre-medieval, multi-edited, politically motivated stories or voices in your head).

    If you cannot then christianity has no more credibility or validity than the other fairy stories.

    Report abuse

  60. 61
    The Laughing cow

    If people are worried about it becoming a ghost town, Why not move the Social Security offices down there, at least it wont be a Ghost town any more. What with all the people collecting their benefits

    Report abuse

  61. 62
    Adrian

    At this rate there will be more doing that than workers before long, Laughing Cow, and Jersey doesn’t even have the EU to fall back on.

    Report abuse

KIT 4 CLUBS

Win a share of £10,000 Win a share of £10,000

2012 is the year of the London Olympics and to celebrate this great event the Jersey Evening Post, in association with sponsors Ogier is giving all sporting clubs a chance to win a share of £10,000.