(For official use only) PUBLIC PETITION NO. PE1127

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1. NAME OF PRINCIPAL PETITIONER Ewan Irvine

2. TEXT OF PETITION Petition by Ewan Irvine on behalf of Full Moon Investigations, calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to make representations to the Home Secretary to reconsider the decision to refuse the posthumous pardon of Helen Duncan who was tried under the Act 1735.

3. ACTION TAKEN TO RESOLVE ISSUES OF CONCERN BEFORE SUBMITTING THE PETITION Action has been fully taken at Westminster by a petition to the Home Secretary which has been turned down in the last few weeks. Therefore we would like to take action at Scottish Parliament level.

4. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

5. DO YOU WISH YOUR PETITION TO BE HOSTED ON THE PARLIAMENT’S WEBSITE AS AN E-PETITION?

YES x NO

CLOSING DATE 8 weeks from submission

COMMENTS TO STIMULATE ON-LINE DISCUSSION

1 Full Moon Investigation’s founder Andrea Byrne and team mediums, Roberta Gordon and Ewan Irvine are submitting a petition to the Scottish Parliament asking for pressure to be placed on the Home Office to fully pardon Helen Duncan, the last person to be tried in Britain under the witchcraft act.

Helen Duncan was an ordinary Scottish housewife who found herself in the centre of a WWII legal battle which ended with her conviction of a 'crime' under Britain's ancient Witchcraft Act and jailed for nine months.

The single aspect that made her different from other housewives and was destined to make her the confidante of wartime premier is that she had the astonishing ability to bring the dead to life.

Mrs. Duncan was a Spiritualist Materialisation Medium and . During WWII Helen's accurate mediumistic information was verified countless times. When she materialized the full form of a sailor with the name H.M.S. BARHAM on his cap, a ship which the English government denied had been sunk; she was arrested and jailed as a spy and then a witch. Even after she was proven correct, she was held and prosecuted as a witch.

The Westminster Parliament have recently turned down a petition to pardon Helen Duncan and it is with this in mind that we are asking the Scottish Parliament to take action in this matter.

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