In 1944 Britain was fighting a modern world war. Radar watched the skies, aircraft filled the air and preparations for the Allied invasion of Europe were under way.
And at the Old Bailey, a Scottish spiritualist medium was being prosecuted under a law passed in 1735.
Her name was Helen Duncan.
Born in Scotland in 1897, Duncan became one of Britain's best-known mediums. At séances she claimed to communicate with the dead and became famous for producing 'ectoplasm', a white material which she said accompanied the appearance of spirits. Investigators were sceptical and concluded that at least some material associated with her séances was ordinary cloth or paper.
During the Second World War Duncan held séances in Portsmouth, a city at the heart of the Royal Navy. In January 1944 police attended one of them and she was arrested.
She was prosecuted under the Witchcraft Act 1735. Despite the extraordinary name, the law was not being used because the authorities believed she was a witch; it targeted people claiming supernatural powers.
Duncan was convicted at the Old Bailey in March 1944 and sentenced to nine months in prison. Winston Churchill reportedly complained about the use of the antiquated legislation. The Act was repealed in 1951.
Supporters continued to believe Duncan had been unfairly treated; sceptics regarded her manifestations as fraudulent. But one fact remains wonderfully strange: while Britain fought a mechanised war in 1944, a Portsmouth séance led to a prosecution under the Witchcraft Act of 1735.
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