annie Report post Posted August 22, 2005 Update on the BBC website http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/4172662.stm Annie XX Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elaine1 Report post Posted August 22, 2005 yes apparently it was a hoax on his part. He used to work with special needs ppl and knew how to mimic their reactions to things. there is nothing wrong with him, he fooled everyone the nhs are threatening to sue him cos he cost them thousands in treatment. apparently he cant play the piano either! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Suze Report post Posted August 22, 2005 ......your kidding?????!!!!!!!.......wow if thats true it,s terrible!.............. . Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lorryw Report post Posted August 22, 2005 He must have been one heck of an actor to have kept up so long and a slimeball. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lucas Report post Posted August 22, 2005 I remember one comment at the time: "Expert on the piano? Maybe, maybe not. But he's definately on the fiddle!" The newspapers are partly to blame for this; if there had been some actual investigation or cross-referencing of sources that he could play the piano like a music savant there are people who could have easily picked the ruse apart. They seemed to take some anonymous peoples word for it that he could. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tylers-mum Report post Posted August 22, 2005 (edited) umm, just read the story but what happened??? I'm lost! Edited August 22, 2005 by Tylers-mum Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TuX Report post Posted August 22, 2005 (edited) I don't understand how those who looked after him said he was great at playing the piano,yet the latest report says he only managed to tap one key continuously? so if we all tap a piano key continuously we can be considered as skilled piano players? I wonder was this to avoid being deported? Edited August 22, 2005 by TuX Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Elanor Report post Posted August 22, 2005 The reports about him being a scrounger and no good at the piano came from the Mirror - nuff said! The local health authority can't discuss his confidential health care issues. It seems perfectly plausible to me that someone could suffer a problem which left him unable to communicate for a period of time - and it's just like the British press to read something nasty into it, and publish that as news! Truth is, we all got part of this story, which intrigued us - then we were left without an ending, because the man is entitled to his confidentiality. That leaves us dissatisfied - people and the press will make stories up, and in the case if the Mirror, it can be judged on what the made-up story reflects on it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
smallworld Report post Posted August 23, 2005 Am confused too ! BBC news said he was a german farmer, or did I mishear this ? I cannot believe that anyone could keep up a hoax for that length of time. Why say he was a capable pianist if not true ? I'm on the side of the original story, I can't see what an individual would have to gain by such an elaborate hoax. wac Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elaine1 Report post Posted August 23, 2005 he has been sent back home. I dont understand where the fabulous pianist suddenly changed to only playing one note either. but hey ho! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
puffin Report post Posted August 23, 2005 The reports say that he was a 20 year old German farmers son who had lost his job at a psychiatric hospital in France - he'd decided to commit suicide in the sea when picked up by police - decided not to talk and then the whole story snowballed from there and he used some of his experineces to avoid talking. Hoax - perhaps - but perhaps we should not condem too harshly it sounds as though he had genuine mental health issues - most people to not want to con themselve INTO a psychiatric unit. Perhaps a couple of months of peace and quiet was what he needed to recover from his depression/suicidal thoughts. As a Gernman and EU citizen (the police have confirmed this) he is quite entitled to come to the UK for 3 months without having to register and also entitled to recieve emmergency treatment just as we are when we go abroad. We don't know what the impact of his suicidal feelings would be that would leave traumatised and unwilling to talk The media is screaming hoax and scrounger -but why? - he didn't claim to be a consert pianist - he didn't say anything at all in fact - all the wild claims of his piano abilities and mystery were all fabricated by the hospital staff and the media So the question is - why is a traumatised/mute piano player a man of mystery but a traumatised/mute suicidal unemployed person a "scrounger" - perhaps the papers are just kicking themselves that they created a fantastic story that turned out to be ordinary. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lucas Report post Posted August 23, 2005 Yes, it was made quite clear in earlier reports he didn't even know of the fuss he was making until sometime AFTER. It now seems to be overlooked that the guy was about to kill himself and for all we know the scrounger-label may cause what amount of recovery he has had to dissolve. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
