Real-life ‘vampire expert’ at centre of blood-tasting scandal after student ‘cut herself and licked wound’ after lecture – Mirror.co.uk

A real-life 'vampire expert' is at the centre of an 'extraordinary' blood-tasting scandal after claims a student cut herself and licked the wounds after a lecture.

Senior lecturer of psychology at Wrexham university Emry Williams, 34, encourages his students to study vampirism.

Now, according to papers lodged at an employment tribunal hearing in Cardiff, one of his students cut her own body before licking the blood after one of his classes.

The Sunday Times reports the allegations came to light in a case brought by Helen Coleman, who was Mr Williams' PhD student and taught at Glyndwr university.

Georgina Calvert-Lee, senior counsel at McAllister Olivarius, which is representing Ms Coleman, said: This is an extraordinary case. We have never dealt with anything like this before.

Ms Coleman, who is seeking compensation for how she was allegedly treated at Glyndwr, has been diagnosed as suffering from work-related stress, reports the Daily Post .

All Ive ever been concerned about is the health and safety of students, she said.

Mr Williams has co-authored a study on the history and portrayal of vampires, from Nosferatu to The Twilight Saga, which was published in the Journal of Dracula Studies, is also said to have offered to introduce some students to a community of real-life vampires.

He has a colourful national reputation for his expertise in a subject often regarded as fictional but which he describes as a non-traditional religious belief.

Mr Williams first appeared in the national press three years ago appealing for vampires to come forward to be studied for the first online academic survey in the UK of the phenomenon.

At the time he said around 15,000 vampires live in Britain today, insisting that they drink blood and drain energy from people, but their well-established laws mean they know who it can and cant be taken from.

The psychologist has publicly denied being a vampire and, because of this, initially struggled to gain the trust of those living in the secretive world, he said in an interview with a Welsh newspaper.

He became interested in the subject after reading about real vampires during his undergraduate years at Bangor University.

Appearances on TV include ITVs This Morning where he featured alongside a married couple from south Wales calling themselves Pyretta Blaze and Andy Filth.

The couple confessed to being members of a vampire society and drinking each others blood as a way of connecting to each others souls.

The lecturer has described vampirism as a genuine way of life and has said: We are talking about a group of individuals who believe they have a psychological need to consume blood.

In its defence at Cardiff employment tribunal last week, the university denies Ms Coleman was treated badly.

Mr Williams did not respond to requests for comment.

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Real-life 'vampire expert' at centre of blood-tasting scandal after student 'cut herself and licked wound' after lecture - Mirror.co.uk