Britain's last witch trial

In 1944, medium Helen Duncan became the last woman in Britain to be convicted of witchcraft when one of her seances exposed a government attempt to cover up the deaths of 861 sailors. Now, campaigners aim to clear her name. It started much the same as her other seances. With a chilling moan and strange white substance leaking from her mouth, Helen Duncan began communicating with the dead...But suddenly, the eerie calm was pierced by a police whistle and officers piled into the house, in Portsmouth, Hants, to arrest Britain's top medium.The following morning Helen, known as Hellish Nell, was charged under section four of the 1735 Witchcraft Act.It was 1944, and, astonishingly, officials had ordered her arrest because they were afraid she would reveal top-secret plans for the D-Day landings.They had been monitoring her since she had revealed the sinking of a British battleship earlier in the war - even though the government had suppressed the news to maintain morale at home.

It took a jury just 30 minutes to find her guilty and she became the last person to be convicted of witchcraft in Britain.As she was led away to start her nine-month sentence in London's Holloway Prison, the housewife cried out in her broad Scottish accent: "I never heard so many lies in all my life!"Helen's "gift" had long put her on a collision course with the authorities and led to one of the most bizarre chapters in British judicial history.Today, exactly 50 years after her death, campaigners hope to persuade Home Secretary John Reid to overturn the verdict. "Helen Duncan was one of the world's top mediums, a woman who gave hope and comfort to many," says Ray Taylor, editor of Psychic World.

View: Full Article | Source: The Mirror

I'm not quite sure which is the more stupid;

- Having a law against witchcraft

- Convicting someone of being a witch (especially as late as 1944)

- Actually going to all the effort to have a 62 year old verdict overturned

The whole thing is bizarre, it interested me so much I decided to look into the Witchcraft Act of 1735 and found it is still legally in force in the Republic of Ireland!

Those poor Irish witches!!

When was the last Irish witch tried?

When was the last Irish witch tried?

Good question, I'll go see if I can find out...

Edit:

The last trial for witchcraft in Ireland appeared to be on March 31st, 1711, when Janet Mean, Janet Latimer, Janet Millar, Margaret Mitchel, Catharine M'Calmond, Janet Liston, Elizabeth Seller and Janet Carson were tried in Antrim Court. (I have no idea why so many of them were called "Janet", it appears to be a popular witch name)

They were found guilty and sentenced to 12 months imprisonment and to stand 4 times in the pillory of Carrickfergus, where one of them had her eye beaten out while being pelted with cabbage.

Edited December 6, 2006 by thebarman

So the British govenment men in black, arrested a meduim as she started to commutcate with the dead in the belief that she was going to tell a secret and get the infomation via dead people,

Does that confirm that there really is life after death ?

Does that confirm that there really is life after death ?

Not really no, seeing as it was the police not the men in black, and probably just didn't want to take any chances given the sensitive time during the 2nd World War.

It is proof however, of peoples stupidity and paranoia.

gee thats scary barman. There still is a country that has a law against witches?!?!?!

Remind me not to go to Ireland anytime soon.

Quick question: What difference would it make now if the verdict were overturned? Is she haunting some place and this is the only thing that will bring rest to her soul? (just wondering )

It wont make a atom of difference. Nobody alive had heard of her until now and tommorw her name will be forgottern.

But I hope she is haunting some where and scareing the life out of people.

one of them had her eye beaten out while being pelted with cabbage

I suppose this should be seen as no stranger than being tried as a witch, but using a cabbage as a lethal weapon is even more bizarre to me.

<----- says it all