One of the letters shared in a residents’ group on social media (Picture: Shiptonthorpe Residents/Facebook)
‘Personal, obscene and targeted’ letters are being sent out to create a ‘village of poison’, residents say.
Horrible anonymous letters are being posted to people living in Shiptonthorpe, North Yorkshire, in a campaign that has lasted two years.
Police are aware but so far the writer has not been found, and the letters remain a major topic of intrigue in the local Facebook group.
One letter tells its recipient, whose home had been damaged by floods, that the writer hopes for ‘lots of rain so your house can be flooded again and again’ and ‘you are washed away never to be seen again’.
Another person is told ‘everyone agrees you should rot in hell’ and ‘hope cancer finds you very soon’.
The letters are printed on white paper and delivered in standard white envelopes.
Writing on a Facebook group for local residents, one man wrote: ‘I too have received a nasty letter recently which was disgusting.
Residents claim dozens of such letters have been delivered (Picture: Barry Stockdale/Shiptonthorpe Residents)
‘It was reported to the police. At some point the police might actually find out who is behind the hatred in Shiptonthorpe and thinks they have the right to decide who lives in the village.’
The case has similarities to the true story behind Wicked Little Liars, the foul-mouthed film starring Olivia Colman, in which anonymous poison pen letters were sent out in Littlehampton in Sussex in the 1920s.
Facebook user Barry Stockdale posted last week claiming he calculates that ‘the police have received at least a dozen complaints with one person reporting at least 4 letters’.
Giving some background to the issue, he said that the first letters were sent out to local councillors in 2022 and have grown in number since then.
He said he had asked police what was being done about it and they told him they had received reports and asked anyone with information about it to phone them on the non-emergency 101 line.
Humberside Police confirmed to the BBC it had investigated some of the letters, saying of one: ‘Inquiries were carried out at the time, including reviewing CCTV.
‘However, the content of the alleged letter was unavailable and subsequently no further investigative opportunities were able to be obtained.’
Regarding another letter, they told the broadcaster: ‘Officers reviewed the letter, however the content was not found to contain any aggressive language and it was established that no criminal offences had been committed.’
One resident called Jason told the BBC that the letters had had a toxic effect on the small community: ‘It is a wonderful village with wonderful people, but someone has brought poison to this village.’
‘In my opinion I believe this constitutes a hate crime.’
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