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Britain's Last "Witch"
🕑 Added 2023-03-10 11:15:01 +0000 UTCTo this day Helen Duncan remains a controversial figure. She has many supporters who have tried repeatedly to have her conviction posthumously overturned – most recently in 2012. So far they have been unsuccessful; there’s abundant documentation of her manifestations being fraudulent – including some samples of her cheesecloth ectoplasm that survive to this day.
At the same time, her punishment was unusually harsh – especially considering that similar performers were common at the time. It’s argued that she should never have been tried under such an old and obsolete act in the first place. Pardoning her would go some way towards addressing this unfairness.
What do you think would be the right thing to do in this case?
Comments
Fascinating Horror
It's on the list!
Fascinating Horror
That's a good point. Whatever the source, it's not a good idea to publicly throw around confidential information in wartime... especially when it was essentially done for publicity or to make her act seem more genuine
Michael Rutherford
How about a video on American Airlines Flight 191?
Amy Frushour Kelly
Frankly, I think she got off lightly. As you say, there’s abundant evidence she was a fraud, so she conned people by taking advantage of people who were grieving their loved ones. And whether her announcement about the sunken warship was a lucky guess or from inside information, it was still a state secret and she should not have made it public. Why pardon her for one offense when she was guilty of something worse?
