Vision of Frankie comforted kidnap victim

Kidnapped estate agent Stephanie Slater has said she got through her gruesome ordeal - with help from visions of Frankie Howerd.

Ruthless Michael Sams imprisoned Stephanie in a wheelie bin for eight days in 1992 for a £175,000 ransom.

Now Stephanie says she can finally talk about her ordeal, and gave an interview to Spirit and Destiny Magazine.

In it she says that she had visions of Christ on the night she was abducted, and on the third night she saw the comedian, who was still alive at the time.

She said: "When I finally fell into a fitful sleep I had another vision of a very unexpected sort. I saw a jester, clad in bells and full harlequin garb. He was sitting on a well and when he turned and grinned it was Frankie Howerd.

"'Stay strong' he said, 'I'm going to get you out of this'."

Months after her ordeal Stephanie, now 36, saw another vision of Howerd.

She said: "I'd pulled up at some traffic lights and he'd been right there beside me, on his hands and knees. 'Told you I'd get you through it, didn't I?'"

Weeks later Frankie Howerd died.

Stephanie, now lives on the Isle of Wight under the name Phoenix Rhiannon while Sams is serving a life sentence for her kidnap and the murder of 18-year-old Leeds prostitute Julie Dart.

Published: 14 Oct 2003