Jeff wrote:

>
>"Spike" <Aero.Spike@S&T.invalid> wrote in message 
>news:njd9e4pbe61ps6cthf8lnqe966leqtt0i5@4ax.com...
>
>Well it looks like the Beeb have got it wrong!!  In one place at least; if 
>you read on beyond the paragraph that you quoted you will find:
>
>"There are two common misconceptions about Duncan's conviction. The first is 
>that she was the last person in Britain to be convicted of being a witch. In 
>fact, the Witchcraft Act was originally formulated to eradicate the belief 
>in witches and its introduction meant that from 1735 onwards an individual 
>could no longer be tried as a witch in England or Scotland. However, they 
>could be fined or imprisoned for purporting to have the powers of a witch.
>
>The second misconception is that she was the last person to be convicted 
>under the Witchcraft Act. Again this is incorrect. Records show that the 
>last person to be convicted under the Witchcraft Act was Jane Rebecca Yorke 
>in late 1944. Due to her age (she was in her seventies) she received a 
>comparatively lenient sentence and was fined."
>
>Jane Rebecca Yorke was convicted under the Witchcraft Act 1735 in September 
>1944, she was fined £5 and bound over for 3 years, compared to the 9 months 
>that Helen Duncan got. Interestingly Duncan was arrested again in 1956 under 
>the new Fraudulent Mediums Act.

<astonishment>

The Beeb getting a record of fact wrong?

</astonishment>

They ran a TV programme not very many years ago about the 'last witch'
etc, which was about Duncan, and which is where I recalled the
incident from.

Whether she was a witch or not, the thinking was that if she could
forsee the sinking of the Barham - which wasn't explained in the
programme - then she might forsee D-Day too. That explains the raid in
January 1944, and a sentence long enough to cover most D-day
eventualities. I suspect a word in the judge's ear might have helped,
along the lines of 'keep her out of circulation for at least six
months...national security, etc etc"....

Thanks for the info.


-- 

 from
 Aero Spike

"> They ran a TV programme not very many years ago about the 'last witch'
> etc, which was about Duncan, and which is where I recalled the
> incident from.
>
> Whether she was a witch or not, the thinking was that if she could
> forsee the sinking of the Barham - which wasn't explained in the
> programme - then she might forsee D-Day too. That explains the raid in
> January 1944, and a sentence long enough to cover most D-day
> eventualities. I suspect a word in the judge's ear might have helped,
> along the lines of 'keep her out of circulation for at least six
> months...national security, etc etc"....
>
> Thanks for the info.
>
>

I think that is correct, the Barham incident was a couple of years before 
she was actually arrested. It sounds like a paranoid security service going 
overboard to protect D-day. I am sure that nobody would have taken any 
notice even if she had foretold D-day. BUT with Hitler's faith in 
astrologers and the like; who knows, maybe they were right to take 
precautions just in case she was the 'real deal'!!!

73
Jeff