A False Friend

The Treachery, Lies and Perversions of a former friend.

It is my view that we are living in some kind of photo-negative realm in which everything is the opposite to the truth.

One the subject of which and as what I regard as a necessary though regrettable aspect to this Roguecast and essay, this inversion may also be applied to an individual’s personal life.

I have hinted at this previously but decided to sit on it and wait. After all, we should not kick a man when he is down and, as is my habit, I act in accordance with the Golden Rule –

‘do unto others as you would have done unto you.’

On the simple basis that the individual in question has, by lying about me to the police, broken the Golden Rule, it now appears to be the right time for me to reveal the sad details and, clearing up the matter with the facts, defend myself against the false accusations made against me by a certain Michael Waugh (aka Michael O’Bernicia, ‘MOB’). Or, to put it another way, when when someone takes a dump on your doorstep, what option do you have but to clean it up?

By way of illustration of the point about us living in an inverted world of lies and deliberate deceptions, this former and false friend was sectioned under the Mental Health Act on 24th January, 2026.

Within two days, he began pumping out a series of lies about me to any and everyone on his social media lists, to those people in the Signal groups that we both belonged to and in phone calls to others. The most egregious lie was that I had attempted to assassinate him.

He was falsely claiming that the psychiatrists in Highbury Vale Hospital, a mental health unit, north of Nottingham, where he was being detained, had provided him with a toxicology report, the contents of which were “devastating” as they revealed he had been “poisoned” by “raw milk and magic mushrooms” and that I was the one behind it.

The infamous report has not been seen by the police, or anyone else, but were it to exist, it may well look something like this:

The non-existent toxicology report.

Demanding Money With Menaces

As a consequence, he claimed that if I did not deposit £18,000 in his bank account by 5pm on the specified day, he would initiate a police investigation against me for attempted murder and that I would have my Lien against the Bradford and Bingley CEO removed from the tranche of others and, consequently, would not be able to benefit when he, finally, established his own bank. The promise of which is essentially that of ‘Free Beer Tomorrow‘. Further, he claimed that my children would not be able to see me as I would be incarcerated. Attempting to extort moneys under false pretences would be one way of describing it.

Demanding money with menaces – Signal message from Waugh, 29/01/2026

It is interesting to note that he was asserting that he would be released shortly (he wasn’t let out until after twenty-five days of incarceration) and that these were the ramblings of a man who had told the cops on the evening of the 24th January, 2026 (after they had detained him on a nearby roundabout where passing motorists had reported his strange behaviour – he was trying to flag down the traffic) that his name was “Michael of Norway”, that he believed himself to be “at the border with Wales” (he was in Nottinghamshire) and that he had to get to Bristol or Cardiff in order “to save Kylie” (Minogue) from an “MI5 assassination” squad who had got wind that he was going to make a film that would “blow apart the real story” regarding Michael Hutchence’s death at the hands of Bob Geldof.

This was a man who had called me a “brother from another mother” and someone whom I had grown to trust over the space of the sixteen years that we had known each other. The same man was now calling me the

“most treacherous man I have ever known.”

There is more to tell in regard to this unfortunate and phantastic tale but, given how he has treated others in exactly the same way – accusations of betrayal, of being secret service agents and/or assassins were levelled at those individuals on whom he turned with a regularity that is clearly of a pattern – none of it has not come as a complete surprise.

Moreover, it is as tragic a pattern as it is a grimly comic one. Some will know that he has previously claimed, on several occasions, that people were out to poison him, paid assassins in the employment of the secret services and/or the Rothschilds who regarded him as such a danger to their financial hegemony, they wanted him dead.

The methodology was invariably the same – poisoning. E-coli in his beer, arsenic in his food, tainted homeopathic tinctures, even an attempt at psychic-assassination and now, poisoning by a raw milk magic mushroom assassin.

He continued to threaten me with a series of false allegations, and in an email sent to his 20k subscribers he claimedto have survived the largest ever recorded dose of magic mushrooms in British Medical history,

“(I) have survived the largest spiking with psychoactive compounds in UK MEDICAL RECORDS” (sic)

In other words, he doubled down on his fairy tale in order to cover up the fact of his sectioning under the Mental Health Act on 24th January, 2026 when I confirmed with the two cops who visited the house that evening that, to the best of my knowledge, he had not been drinking alcohol and nor had he not taken any drugs or illicit substances on the day in question.

As I make clear in the discourse, I would have preferred not to reveal the details of the matter in question – namely the fundamental dishonesty of a man whom I previously regarded as a friend. Indeed, I have always taken the adage ‘don’t wash your dirty laundry in public’ to be a sensible one.

However, this has changed on the simple basis that on 11th March of this year, the Buddha of Bernicia went to his local police force (presumably in the Newcastle area) and made two complaints against me (and Steve) that were founded entirely on falsehoods.

The matters are plainly stated and , to anyone with a modicum of common sense, easily dismissed as the insane ramblings of a mental patient, presumably one afflicted with ‘mythomania’:

A mythomaniac is a person with an abnormal or compulsive tendency to lie, exaggerate, or invent stories and present them as fact.

merriam-webster.com

The related condition is mythomania (also called pathological lying or pseudologia fantastica): an excessive propensity for lying and fabricating, sometimes without a clear external payoff. The stories can be elaborate or fantastical, and the person may at times appear to believe them.

collinsdictionary.com

It is a descriptive term, not a standalone diagnosis in current major manuals such as the DSM-5, though compulsive lying can appear with other conditions. Everyday occasional lying is not the same thing; mythomania refers to a persistent, often uncontrolled pattern.

Whoever this character might be, it is fair to state that he certainly has an active and vivid imagination. Unfortunately, when such an individual is the only one who believes in his own preposterous narratives, it is not far-fetched to see that the end result is one of madness.

In this case, rather than take responsibility for his own state of mind, he took the decision to double-down on his lie: namely, that his sectioning under the Mental Health Act was a result of yours truly having spiked his raw milk with liberty cap mushrooms. He falsely claimed, in his statement to the police, that he had seen and heard me preparing the brew during the night with a blender and that I had been doing it throughout December and January. Yet,seemingly, at no point had he thought fit to mention it to me.

Bernician Bullshit Bingo.

It is also worth noting that upon his release, following 25 days of incarceration, he sent out another email which included a series of ‘reviews’ featuring a volume of fictional quotes from fellow inmates about how wonderful he was during his detention at the Highbury Vale Hospital, in Bulwell.

Here is a selection of the self-penned reviews he received from staff and fellow inmates during his stay in hospital:

 

“You’re such a gentleman in a world where there aren’t many of them left.”

Mia

“You’re too funny! No wonder you’re a comedian!”

Chica

“None of the staff can see any reason justifying why you are here and we feel really guilty that we can do nothing to help you.”

Gary

“You’re right about at least 99.9% of the things you say and I can’t think of anything you were wrong about! The fact that the doctors haven’t prescribed any antipsychotics after this long speaks volumes because I’ve seen people with real mental health issues discharged sooner than this.”

Jamie

“You shouldn’t be here but you’ve made such a positive difference to the ward we’ll be sad to see you go but also happy because you really shouldn’t be here.”

Michelle

“What you did when [Redacted] attacked you physically in the corridor was, if you don’t mind me saying, really noble. Everybody here admires the way you are with everybody. That’s the first time any of us have ever said anything like that about anybody in here.”

Chloe

“The sanest man ever to be admitted into one of these places.”

Nurse

Like letters through a stick of Blackpool rock, the self-aggrandisement is a feature that runs through his personality. This definition of a ‘pathological liar’ from Psychology Today would certainly seem to apply,

“this condition involves a persistent, often effortless pattern of fabricating elaborate stories – including false conversations, claims about what others said or did, or exaggerated personal narratives – that are presented as true.

These are told with fluency, detail, and dramatic flair (animated voice, charisma, and engaging storytelling) to captivate audiences, even without clear external gain like money or avoiding punishment. The person may partially or fully believe their own fabrications or experience a ‘high’ from the imaginative process and attention it brings. This behaviour is consistent with narcissistic personality disorder.”

As if this were not egregious enough, the Buddha of Bullshitia also used the services of a struck-off barrister, a certain Mr Ben Conlon to threaten us,

The fact is that we were lawfully holding the car in accord with the long-established common law lien right on the basis that he owed us a total of £3,000:

“A common law (legal or possessory) lien is a passive right to retain possession of another person’s chattels (goods) until a debt or obligation relating to those goods (or, in the case of a general lien, a broader account) is satisfied. It operates primarily in a non-judicial way through continued lawful possession alone.

According to Halsbury’s Laws of England (Lien, Volume 68, 5th edition, 2008), in its primary sense a legal lien is:

“a right at common law in one person to retain that which is rightfully and continuously in his possession belonging to another until the present and accrued claims of the person in possession are satisfied.”

He had told us that he had abandoned the car round the corner and had given Steve the keys in order that it be moved and that he look after it.

Conlon red cards himself by criminally acting as a barrister on Waugh’s behalf when disbarred.

Waugh had told me previously, almost three years ago, that he had been taking the advice of Mr Conlon, the disbarred freemasonic barrister who had been struck off in 2009 for fraud. To practice as a barrister when disbarred is a criminal offence and, accordingly, he was reported to the Bar Standards council. That was the last we heard of him.

Fraud by False Representation

Those who donated to the fund-raiser of September, 2023 which was ostensibly run in order to fund a legal battle over the custody of Waugh’s daughter may be interested to hear that the £40k was not spent as promised and that a certain amount was paid to Mr Conlon as a ‘retainer’.

These are the unfortunate, perhaps tragic facts of the matter. Revealing them gives me no satisfaction for the whole episode is one tinged from beginning to end with disappointment borne of treachery.

As to whether they have any sanative effect on the subject, I have no idea and neither do I care. To reiterate: I have only written about what happened because I have every right to do so after he went to the ‘authorities’ and compounded his situation by lying to them in order to cover up the reasons for his sectioning and initiate the investigation.

Suffice to say, I have provided the ‘investigation’ with as much detail as I consider necessary for it to be discontinued, subject to common sense.

Never, in all my days, have I experienced anything like it. The most difficult aspect has been reconciling his actions to the fact that I once regarded him as a friend. Maybe a more suitable non de plume would be ‘Michael Judas of Bernicia’?

The whole sorry episode does, however, provide me with the opportunity to learn (or remember) that, whatever a man’s life may be in this photo-negative realm, he can only truly rely on himself. After all, he arrives here alone and alone he departs. If he is of good character, he may well have a few true friends who will stick with him through thick and thin but, ultimately, he has to be self-reliant. In short, true happiness lies within him and not outside in the shape of others.

And that, dear reader, is the lesson learned; the adage remembered.

Anyway, life moves on in this realm of absurdity and it is my pleasure to invite you to a presentation which I will be delivering on 9th October, 2026:

If you are able, then please come along as it promises to be a great evening and a marvellous opportunity for a spot of socialising with some like-minded souls.

Thank you for kind attention.

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6 thoughts on “A False Friend”

  1. Michael, first, I can only imagine how difficult and bewildering these past months must have been. To find yourself where you now do after sixteen years of friendship must involve a great deal of emotion and grief.

    As the person who introduced the two of you, I’d like to build on your piece a bit.

    Michael W and I were once extremely close. Between 2008 and 2010 we would sometimes speak three or four times a day. We travelled the country together, spoke publicly together and explored ideas that, as you know, challenged some very fundamental assumptions about authority, law, money and the systems in which we live. After my first daughter was born our contact naturally reduced, although we remained connected until around 2012.

    There was much that I genuinely liked and admired about Michael. He was intelligent, charismatic, funny, extraordinarily persuasive and capable of making people feel that they were participating in something important.

    However over time I became increasingly uncomfortable. The stories became bigger, Michael was increasingly at the centre of extraordinary events and ideas. There were powerful people who recognised his importance, extraordinary opportunities about to materialise, women who found him irresistible and, on the other side, enemies, agents, conspirators and people who wanted to silence or harm him. Many of the things on the bingo card above are stories I remember hearing many many times between 2008 and 2012.

    Eventually I realised that something didn’t feel right to me. You’ll remember I raised some of those concerns with you, and gradually stepped away, eventually quite deliberately. I then disappeared into my own life, career, fatherhood and, importantly, a great deal of inner work.

    I don’t write any of this now to prosecute Michael, quite the opposite. I think there is a larger human question here that interests me much more.

    History is full of intelligent, charismatic and charming people who have an extraordinary ability to draw others into their understanding of the world. We encounter the same characteristics in business, politics, religion, movements and also ordinary families. Their charisma is precisely why they can become so influential. Simply calling such people liars, narcissists, mad or bad can therefore allow the rest of us off rather too easily.

    Because there is another question: what was happening in us?
    What did we want to believe?
    What uncertainty did their certainty relieve?
    What need to belong did the group satisfy?
    What did their confidence allow us not to question?
    What part of ourselves did we hand over to someone who appeared to know?
    What did we see but choose not to see?
    And perhaps most importantly, when reality challenged the story, were we still capable of changing our minds?

    I have had to ask myself versions of those questions during that period of my own life, and found nourishment in doing so.

    Perhaps that is one of the purposes of these types of charismatic figures we encounter in life. Whether intentionally or otherwise, they hold up a mirror. What we eventually see in that mirror may tell us as much about ourselves as it does about them.

    I am deeply saddened by what has happened here, for you, for Michael and for everyone caught up in it. And I hope, somehow, that it becomes a catalyst for change and healing rather than merely an ending.

    Most of all, I hope Michael eventually finds his way inward. Beneath all the stories, battles, enemies, causes and identities there is still a human being, and one whom many of us once cared for very much.

    When the path we are travelling costs us access to the people we love, particularly our children, I think life is asking us one of its most serious questions: whatever we believe we are fighting for, is the price we are paying worth it? Our relationships with those we love are among the most sacred systems we will ever belong to. I sincerely hope that, in time, something in all of this allows healing to begin.

    1. Beautifully expressed, Amit. Thank you. I couldn’t agree more about the mirror observation. Reflections of what we want to see in the ‘other’ – our eyes do genuinely deceive us and we ‘hear’ what we want to hear.

      And how easily we forget that it is ALL a spiritual experience that is far too serious to be taken seriously. The world is a paradox, a riddle wrapped in an enigma and, as you hint, the way out is the way in.

      Much love to you and yours and, once again, thank you.

  2. Michael,

    Perhaps it is no coincidence that your situation with Waugh appears to have come about at the same time as you have been learning and telling the truth about the International Jew; remember, in this world, one is allowed to criticise any kind of invented enemy and one is allowed to criticise God but one cannot criticise the Jew …

    I mean, imagine a people so pathetic and disgusting that they have to invent so-called ‘laws’ in an effort to prevent people telling the truth about them.

    Steve

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