Scottish-born Tom Wards of Melbourne advertises himself as an "internationally famous clairvoyant".

Mr Wards works out people's lucky numbers, has a problem and answer column in Australasian Post, and makes regular political and social predictions.

An Adelaide news report titled "Prince Charles will wed in 1979 – clairvoyant" (1978 December 28) contains proof of Tom's paranormal skill.

Prince Charles wedded in 1981 and not in 1979 – Tom was therefore wrong.

He was also wrong [in the same article] about "a flag at half mast at Buckingham", wrong about reintroduction of TV licenses, and wrong about the "Pope…killed by a sniper's bullet".

That's zero out of 4 = 0%

Tom is not always that bad. Investigator Number 4 estimated ten correct in one set of 130 predictions = 8%.

An Adelaide skeptic commented: "I don't understand how he keeps going when he's nearly always wrong."

What would happen if someone trusted the lucky numbers Tom supplied and lost all he had? A law student explained: "Tom couldn't be prosecuted because illegal contracts can't be enforced."

Tom Wards confidently proclaims that his success rate is 85%. Apparently arithmetic wasn't his best school subject.