I'm glad El Reg spotted the rather blatant piece of publicity-stunting there. Too many news organisations who should know better ... didn't.

The explanation might be that it's a slow news week. Pity the BBC then for being the sacrificial virgin to the media god on the alter of news (as Chris Morris - another witch-huntee - might have said).

"2,000 people were executed in Scotland and 400 in England after being accused of unholy tampering with crops and cattle"

Yeah they can be exhonorated but will go on the sex offenders register for tampering with cattle

IIRC original medieval witchraft laws cover _BOTH_ witchcraft and WEATHER PREDICTION. The Witchcraft act has abolished penalties for the former, but it has not done anything regarding the latter. Considering the precision of weather prediction we are getting lately, I am not so sure that we should provide a blanket amnesty. The Witchcraft act is good enough. It deals with witches and leaves the other "witchcraft laws" subjects alone. In fact, time to apply them a few time... Cough... Cough...

And of course their descendants should be compensated by the justice system!

Shouldn't it be the Vatican who pardons these people rather than the government? I mean the Vatican were the people who started the witch-hunts.

This just smacks of a cheap publicity stunt. If they do get exhonerated there shouldn't be a chance for any compensation.

dun dun Burn the witch! dun dun doodle-oo

/I'll get me bass...

That this stunt by the costume company qualifies for the Twantdangle tag. Nothing to see here, move along.

"And of course their descendants should be compensated by the justice system!"

With interests...

Mine's the black one with the pointed hat and broomstick?

what part of witch don't you understand, they would eat their own offspring.

OK, so I know in today's climate, the witch-burning years are a total irrelevancy to the media, and that (modern-day) Pagans are looked upon as either an intellectual curiosity to do think-pieces on (broadsheets), or a complete joke that can be safely ridiculed without fear of being done for religious hatred as they would quite rightly be were it any other religious groups, say muslim (I'm looking at you here, The Sun), but can we briefly address the fact that despite the fact none or virtually none of the victims were actually pagan/satanic witches (I say both because you get Satanists who claim to be witches as well as the more normal wiccan/eclectic pagan; I'm not saying if they are or not, that's another discussion entirely), nonetheless, they were put to death in a most cruel and barbaric fashion based on their supposed or actual religious beliefs.

Hmm, that sounds familiar.

Let's see. The Crusades. The Holocaust. More recently, the oppression, rape and often murder of none-muslims in certain countries, like taliban-controlled Afghanistan, Indonesia etc.

Were any company that makes costumes(!!!) to try and use the suffering of these groups in such a way as to maximize some PR towards them during a major religious festival of said group, they would quite rightly be facing widespread condemnation, not to mention possible complaints from the PCC to the newspapers that facilitate their cause.

But, it's only witches, and they're all dead, except them loonies that go to Stonehenge every year. Open Season lads!! It's exactly the same as using the Holocaust to maximize sales of Nazi costumes.

Tossbags.

Thank goodness the sheep were safe.

except in Scotland, where men are men, women are men too, and sheep are nervous.

Mine's the sheepskin one.