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Linda Clappison Convicted Of Enslaving Her Children After Fortune Teller Told Her To

Posted: 05/10/2012 1:45 pm Updated: 05/10/2012 1:48 pm

Linda Clappison Children

Shortly after a meeting with a fortune teller, a British woman locked her children in their rooms, confiscated their lightbulbs, toys and mattresses and later made two of them work as slaves for Roma people, otherwise known as gypsies, prosecutors said. The abuse apparently lasted for six years.

Linda Clappison, of Keyingham Marsh, East Yorkshire, was convicted of two counts of child cruelty. She was sentenced to three years in prison, according to the Telegraph. Before a fortune teller told her to submit her children to this abuse, Clappison was a fine mother, her children testified.

But after the meeting, her son Andrew Clappison, now 18, told the court, "We were treated like dogs."

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Clappison denied the charges and called her children, "liars."

Judge Michael Mettyear openly chastised Clappison for her crime, according to the Herald.

"It is sad that seeing your children in court giving evidence did not in any way melt your heart," the judge said. "It is sad that your initial period in custody has not changed you. Custody is inevitable: you have blighted the lives of these children."

Express reports that Clappison's abuses were uncovered after her daughter broke down at school in 2010, begging teachers not to send her home.

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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
jedime
i am.
11:09 AM on 05/14/2012
so many people freely give away their own power and allow others (friends, family, religion, politicians, strangers, etc) to do their thinking for them. it seems to me that the weak-minded do this because they refuse to take responsibility for their own choices and actions and lives, in general. lame.
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Opus Fideo
Atheist. Social Democrat. Canadian.
10:14 AM on 05/14/2012
If fraud is illegal, then why are priests and fortune tellers allowed to walk around free
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
OldsCool52
It's easy when you know how.
10:02 AM on 05/14/2012
You want to fish, you need a license. You want a dog, you need a license, You want to drive, you want to get married, scuba dive, sell a house, etc & so on you need a license. You want to have a baby....you have to be 14 or above, everyone qualifies! No experience required, no qualifications needed.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Runey
religion is why we can't have nice things.
07:34 AM on 05/14/2012
What about all the lemmings who follow preachers and fox news?
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Patricia Russell
We are sorry, your micro-bio did not meet our guid
06:17 PM on 05/13/2012
"But after the meeting, her son Andrew Clappison, now 18, told the court, "We were treated like dogs."

Linda Clappison "I treat my dogs as well as Romney treats his."
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thorrsman
Why should I define myself by quoting others?
11:36 PM on 05/13/2012
You mean she goes to unusual length to insure that her children go on vacation with her rather than leaving them home?
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Tracee Collins
APATHY = COMPLICITY
07:06 AM on 05/14/2012
Defend the indefensible. Ugh.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
rewith85man
Expressing Who I Am
10:07 PM on 05/12/2012
Meanwhile, the fortuneteller targets his or her next victim, who is foolish.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
RK Johnston
Good Blood Never Lies...True Love Never Dies!
06:34 PM on 05/12/2012
"Mandatory hysterectomy for that wretched excuse for a mother!" says my oft-abused as a child soul.

This is why one should be very wary of heeding anything a "fortune-teller" says--for they seperate not only money from fools, but their sanity--indeed, their very lives--as well.
--RKJ
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Opus Fideo
Atheist. Social Democrat. Canadian.
10:13 AM on 05/14/2012
And the fortune teller should be locked up for fraud too
05:25 PM on 05/12/2012
I suppose if the Fortune tell had told her to jump off a bridge with her children she would have done that too.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
plaidsportcoat
12:30 PM on 05/12/2012
only three years!?
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spunkyphd
Grok Karma
06:36 PM on 05/13/2012
apparently the court uses fuzzy math. The kids served 6 years each as a slave, 12 together the (non)mom should do at least 12.
10:15 AM on 05/14/2012
Exactly what I was thinking...
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
rg9rts
Carpe Diem! This aint rehearsal
07:19 PM on 05/11/2012
And here I thought that the colonies had the corner on the DING DONG market, apparently not.~~(^..^)
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Ayesha Khan
04:29 PM on 05/11/2012
All bloody non-sense,a fabricated story, there was no fortune teller this woman her self is an evil one, if not today then tomorrow she would have come out with her true colors .They are sick people, they have a tendency to follow evil. What justification she has, that the fortune teller told her to do all this and in case she did meet a fortune teller, then firstly why she met her, and secondly what was she suppose to achieve by torturing her kids for six long years. Why did she do it? People do commit sins but they have some logical or ill logical reason behind the act, what reason this woman had? And i refuse to believe that she was a good mother before this incident. Only a day before she met this fortune teller she was an ok mother, and just a day after she tuned into the worst kind of beast---I wish if she gets a chance to meet this mysterious woman, once again who can possibly tell her that what nature has kept in reserve concerning her fortune. " Mostly people are Trash " ( Sigmund Freud )
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
ickymcpooh
yes I get it my grammur is bad and I cant spell.I
11:15 PM on 05/14/2012
I'm thinking since she let the gypsies use them as slaves they may have been their idea. Not saying all roma people would do such a thing we all have bad seeds in our mist.
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03:12 PM on 05/11/2012
she must have gone on hollywood psychic website
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WeNeed2Change
No Need 2 Cry About It...
02:04 PM on 05/11/2012
I wonder if the fortune teller was the gypsy that the children were enslaved to?
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
salamanca1
We'll never run out of stupidity
12:59 PM on 05/12/2012
Good question.
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scrapper7
"Baby Jay-Cee:)"
01:43 PM on 05/11/2012
The United States follows suit with Great Britain, Great Britain follows suit with the United States.

The penalty imposed on Linda Clappison, is a mere slap on the wrist. She will likely be released prior to the three year sentence, for good behavior.

My initial thought, was Clappison should have received at least six years' incarceration, so as to equal the period of time she abused her children. I can't help but wonder if some sort of plea bargain was put into place. After all, it appears to be the current trend in this country.

I assert plea bargains inadvertently allow defendants to withhold self-incriminating facts in their prosecution. More often than not, this concealed evidence is heinous and would, if revealed, prevent ANY sort of compromise.

The United States and Great Britain should reconsider the frequency of which plea bargains are established.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
rg9rts
Carpe Diem! This aint rehearsal
07:23 PM on 05/11/2012
Better yet, corporations,which are people, so we are told by Mittens, will pay tremendous fines for bad behavior but not admit guilt. Go figure ~~(^..^)
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Renee Johnson
01:18 PM on 05/11/2012
she should have gotten the same sentence she gave her children..6 years per child not 3 yrs total!!