Wirral singer Charlie Landsborough is victim of sick hoax

Nov 4 2009 Heswall News

WIRRAL country music legend, Charlie Landsborough fell victim to a sick hoax – for the third time.

Charlie had been due to perform a charity concert in Bangor, Ireland, when the event organiser received a phone call telling him the singer’s wife had died.

The caller, who spoke with a Scottish accent, claimed to work for the concert’s promoters, David Hull, and said the country music star would no longer be able to perform because he was “devastated”.

Following the phone call, event organiser Bill Keery set about cancelling the concert, which was in aid of Bangor Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB).

Mr Keery said: “I had to tell everyone at CAB, who were so disappointed, then ask everyone to stop selling tickets and put up ‘cancelled’ signs over all the concert posters.”

It was only a few days later when he rang the promoters to see if Charlie could perform at a later date that Mr Keery discovered he had been the victim of a hoax.

The concert will now go ahead as planned, on November 21.

The Birkenhead-born performer issued a statement to say he was “absolutely horrified and appalled by the malicious actions of a sick individual”.

And he revealed he has been targeted before by sick pranksters.

He was due to preform in Barnstaple, Devon, four years ago, when a hoaxer phoned concert organisers to say he had been diagnosed with cancer and had just one week to live.

And earlier this year a hoaxer tried to disrupt a concert in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, by claiming the star had gone bankrupt.

Charlie Landsborough’s manager, Ken Davies, is baffled by the hoaxes. He said: “Charlie is an absolutely lovely person. “He has no enemies and no rivals.

“The only thing I can think of is that someone is upset that Charlie has rejected one of their songs. He is inundated with calls from people who have written songs that they want him to perform, and he can’t perform them all.”

Charlie Landsborough is due to perform at the Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool on Sunday.

Read Charlie Landsborough’s autobiography Storyteller, available now by calling 0845 143 0001 or go online to visit merseyshop.com