Cops probe surge in WITCHCRAFT including claims abuse using voodoo dolls and curses
SCORES of allegations of witchcraft and black magic have been looked into by police.
They include claims of assault and abuse using voodoo dolls and curses.
It comes as witchcraft is making a comeback on TikTok, with the hashtag used two million times last year.
An information request to police forces found at least 175 claims of crimes by occultists have been recorded since 2018.
Merseyside officers investigated a claim that a suspect, never identified, forced their victim to “use a voodoo doll and perform black magic on others”.
The West Mercia force was also hunting a suspect who allegedly sent letters threatening to use other voodoo techniques to harm them.
Police in Nottinghamshire took on 78 claims.
Humberside Police dealt with 60 cases, with six people saying curses led to them losing control of their bodies.
In North Wales, officers were called after a man claimed he would use black magic to enact violent revenge on his probation worker.
And a woman went to police believing she would be cut up because she was a witch.
Most reports were dismissed because a formal investigation and potential prosecution were not in the public interest.
But some were taken further on mental health or domestic abuse grounds.
Witchcraft stopped being a crime in 1951.
Being a witch was punishable by death for 200 years with at least 500, mostly female, occultists hanged.