Britain's last 'witch' may be pardoned
Campaigners will submit a petition to the Scottish Parliament today calling for the last woman convicted under the Witchcraft Act to be pardoned.
Helen Duncan spent nine months in Holloway prison after being convicted at a trial in 1944.
Her conviction followed a seance at which the spirit of a dead sailor was said to have disclosed the loss of the battleship HMS Barham with most of her crew.
The sinking had been kept secret by the authorities to maintain wartime morale, and was not disclosed for several months.
A petition to the Westminster Government last year failed to secure a pardon, and the new petition urges the Scottish Government to urge the Home Secretary to reconsider the case.
Read entire article at Telegraph (UK)
Helen Duncan spent nine months in Holloway prison after being convicted at a trial in 1944.
Her conviction followed a seance at which the spirit of a dead sailor was said to have disclosed the loss of the battleship HMS Barham with most of her crew.
The sinking had been kept secret by the authorities to maintain wartime morale, and was not disclosed for several months.
A petition to the Westminster Government last year failed to secure a pardon, and the new petition urges the Scottish Government to urge the Home Secretary to reconsider the case.