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Bid to gain pardons for 'witches' Plea for 'witches' to be pardoned
(about 4 hours later)
A petition has been handed in to the Scottish Parliament calling for a pardon for all those convicted under witchcraft legislation. Campaigners have submitted a petition to the Scottish Parliament calling for the last woman convicted under the Witchcraft Act to be pardoned.
It is thought some 4,000 people, mainly women, were prosecuted and often put to death for witchcraft. Helen Duncan spent nine months in Holloway prison after being found guilty at a trial in 1944.
The last Witchcraft Act conviction was in 1944 when Scottish medium Helen Duncan was imprisoned for allegedly disclosing World War II secrets. She had told a seance a warship had sunk before the news had been officially announced.
She told a seance a warship had sunk before the news had been released. A second petition calls for all those convicted under witchcraft legislation in Scotland to be pardoned.
The witchcraft petition came from a group of self-styled "mediums" called Full Moon Investigators. Family stigma
Seance 'visitation' Both petitions have been organised by a paranormal group, Full Moon Investigations.
The group said many of today's occupations such as herbalism, alternative therapies and midwifery had their roots in the same traditions as the women burnt to death in previous centuries as "witches". A petition to the Westminster Government last year failed to secure a pardon for Mrs Duncan.
They want the state to apologise and grant those convicted a pardon. This new document calls on the Scottish Government to urge the Home Secretary to reconsider the case.
This includes Mrs Duncan, who was born in Callander, Perthshire, who they said in particular deserves a pardon. Mrs Duncan, born in Callander, Perthshire, held a seance at which the spirit of a dead sailor was said to have revealed the loss of the battleship HMS Barham with most of her crew.
She was convicted under the Witchcraft Act of 1735 and spent nine months in Holloway prison in London. The sinking had been kept secret by the authorities to maintain wartime morale.
It was claimed that she endangered the war effort by using her powers as a spiritualist or medium to reveal the fact, kept secret, that the ship the HMS Barham had been sunk. Helen Duncan spent nine years in prison
When HMS Barham was sunk by a German U-boat in November 1941, Mrs Duncan lived in Portsmouth, the home of the Royal Navy. Roberta Gordon presented the signatures to Frank McAveety, convener of the public petitions committee, at Holyrood.
During a seance, it was claimed that the spirit of a sailor from the stricken ship appeared. Mrs Gordon, who has been a medium for more than 28 years, said: "I feel that at the time the country was paranoid about security with D-Day coming up and the evidence used against her wasn't accurate.
The vessel was only officially declared lost several months later. "It would take away the stigma of the family that is still living, the granddaughters, the great-grandsons and she has got a great granddaughter.
"For them to know that Helen Duncan is not classed as a witch would be the icing on the cake."
The campaigners claim about 4,000 people were convicted under the witchcraft legislation in force between 1563 and 1736, 85% of them women.
The petition states that torture was used to extract confessions as late as 1704 and those convicted were almost always strangled before their body was burnt.
The petition states: "Many of today's professions have their roots in tradition and what could be seen as mystical wisdom.
"Professions such as mediumship, herbalists, midwifery, reiki and many alternative therapies, to name just a few."