Who was the last witch to be tried

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Q.� So who was she

A.� Duncan was a spiritualist medium practising who claimed to put bereaved parents in touch with their sons lost at sea.

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Q.� I think this deserves some background ...

A.� Duncan was daughter of a cabinet-maker, brought up in poverty in Callander, Scotland. She showed early signs of second sight when she predicted when the First World War would end. She married and had six children. Her husband was wounded in the First World War and Helen worked part-time in a bleach factory.

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Q.� So how did she start as a witch

A.� Not as a witch, but as a medium, specialising in 'materialisations'. She began to make her name in the Great War, when she told mothers she could get in touch with their dead soldier sons.

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Q.� With some success

A.� Yes. By the 1930s and 1940s she was giving regular s�ances in hundreds of Spiritualist churches. She was convincing and many bore witness to physical phenomena: 'dead' loved ones apparently appeared, spoke to and touched their relatives.

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Q.� So why did she get into trouble

A.� She came to the attention of the Admiralty in 1944 after she told a woman at a Portsmouth s�ance that her son had been lost when his ship, HMS Barham, had been sunk by a U-boat. One of the witnesses was Maurice Barbanell, editor of the Psychic News, who then called the Admiralty to ask if this was true. It was - but had been withheld for security reasons. The authorities decided to target Helen Duncan and brought the prosecution initially to discredit her as a fraud.

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Q.� A set-up

A.� Yes. Lieut R Worth of the Royal Navy attended a s�ance. He paid �2 10s for two tickets and passed one to a police officer. Duncan and three sitters were arrested after the s�ance. The policeman made grab for 'ectoplasm' that appeared, believing it to be a white sheet. But he could find nothing.

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The four were charged under the Vagrancy Act with an offence that would have merited a five-shilling fine. Yet Duncan was kept in custody at Holloway Prison. Soon the allegation was extended to conspiracy, a�far more serious�offence - then, by the time the case got to the Old Bailey, to witchcraft: 'Pretending to exercise or use human conjuration that through the agency of Helen Duncan spirits of deceased dead persons should appear to be present.' She was also accused of taking money 'by falsely pretending she was in a position to bring about the appearances of spirits of deceased persons'.

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Q.� And the trial

A.� It was sensational. Many gave evidence of materialisations. One of the most impressive was Alfred Dodd, author of works on Shakespeare's sonnets. He said he had been a regular guest at Duncan's s�ances. At one of these sittings his grandfather had materialised. After speaking with his grandson the spirit then turned to a friend who had accompanied Alfred and said: 'Look into my face and into my eyes. Ask Alfred to show you my portrait.'

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Others spoke of being reunited with loved ones. The Crown said the materialisations were accomplished with sheets, false beards and wigs - but no evidence was ever found. Yet she was convicted and jailed.

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Q.� On release

A.� She swore never to hold another s�ance. But she did. In 1956, Nottingham police raided a sitting she was giving in a private home. Supporters believe the police were heavy-handed and knew their actions could harm a medium while 'in contact'. Helen Duncan died five weeks later.

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Q.� So was she badly treated

A.� Yes - there's no doubt the authorities were worried that she might be genuine and reveal secrets. And if she was a fraud, where was she getting the secret information Either way, she had to be kept quiet.

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Q.� And was she genuine

A.� Many think so - and campaigns are still calling for her to be granted a posthumous pardon. If she was a fraud, she certainly conned some intelligent people. The 'spirit voices' were particularly convincing, bearing in mind that Duncan was uneducated and described as a 'coarse, obese fishwife'. Her 'materialisations' of ectoplasm also convinced many, although one ghost-hunter said they were made from a vest that she swallowed and regurgitated.

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By Steve Cunningham