Derren Brown stunt criticised by charity

Derren Brown's latest stunt has been criticised by a road deaths charity.

The illusionist hypnotised Julie Simm, a woman who rarely wore a seatbelt, making her believe that she had been killed in a car accident for new show Trick Or Treat. Producers have claimed that the programme has "public service value" as the incident made Simm vow to wear a seatbelt from now on.

"This does seem to be trivialising what is a huge problem," explained Carole Whittingham, founder of SCARD (Support and Care After Road Death and Injury).

"It's a trivial way of going about it, that I suspect will make good television. It's a very cockeyed way of solving the problem. We can't start hypnotising everybody in the country who doesn't wear a seatbelt.

"We have a huge problem with people not wearing seatbelts, in particular young people who see themselves as invincible. But they're not."