Case file · Witch trials
Helen Duncan and the Witchcraft Act
In 1944 the Scottish medium Helen Duncan was arrested at a séance in Portsmouth and jailed for nine months under the Witchcraft Act of 1735, the last person imprisoned under it.
1944 CE · 50.82, -1.09 · status: official
The account
She had reportedly told a séance in 1941 about the sinking of HMS Barham before it was public. Supporters say the authorities feared she would leak D-Day secrets. The act was repealed in 1951.
The sceptical view
Duncan had been convicted of fraud before; photographs of her 'ectoplasm' show cheesecloth and cut-out figures.