A woman who was sectioned for 70 years after being accused of stealing two shillings and sixpence has been reunited with her family.
Jean Gambell, 85, was just 15 when she was wrongly accused of taking the money, worth about 13p, and sectioned in 1937.
The money was eventually found, but a letter sent to one of her brothers, David Gambell, 63, sparked a terrible realisation - the sister they thought was dead was still alive and had been lost in a maze of care institutions for decades.
David, from Wirral, Merseyside, said: "Last month I received a questionnaire from a care home in Macclesfield asking were we happy with it.
"It was addressed to my mother and I was just about to throw it in the bin as junk when I saw a name pencilled in the corner - Jean Gambell.
"I rang them and they said straight away our sister was there."
Brother Alan, 66, also from Wirral, added: "We were not even born in 1937 when Jean was put away but I do remember her being brought to us by two wardens when we were young.
"Soon though, we lost contact. Life was hard and some of us went into care; by the age of nine I had a job selling bundles of wood."
After being accused of stealing the money from the doctor's surgery where she worked as a cleaner, Jean was taken to Cranage Hall in Crewe.
She was later relocated and the Gambells moved house.
With the death of their mother 25 years ago, the family's link to their sister was lost.
The brothers' inquiries with Macclesfield Social Services confirm that following her original detention at Cranage Hall, records had been lost but Jean had gone to various care homes before being moved to Macclesfield.
Alan said: "We now know many of the things she was saying to the staff had been dismissed as figments of her imagination."
Last month the brothers made their first visit to see Jean at the care home, and were warned by staff she was deaf, that they communicate with her by writing and she may not remember them.
David said: "We were very nervous. We had a bunch of flowers and wrote on a piece of card 'Hello Jean, we're your brothers'.
"They brought her in and she took one look at us and said: 'Hello Alan, hello David', and put her arms around us."
Shortly after the meeting Jean suffered a stroke, which the family believe may be connected to the shock of their reunion, but she is said to be making good progress.
David said: "It's been emotional.
"Nowadays there are reviews and appeals but back then, a doctor could sign away a life with the stroke of a pen - it's a terrible waste.
"Jean even thanked us for the flowers and the presents we gave her.
"It's incredible, after all this time there was no hint of bitterness."
Cheshire County Council said today it was investigating the matter.
LINKAbsolutely shocking this. I know back at the start of last century you could get sectioned for next to nothing, I believe men used to have the power to have their wives sectioned for no reason, but surely somewhere over the following years someone should've realised that she didn't deserve to be in there just for stealing. I hope Social Services get stung for millions on this, it's the only fair outcome.
