Mysterious hate letters turn quiet village to 'poison'
· BBC NewsSarah-May Buccieri
BBC News
Reporting from
Shiptonthorpe
Anonymous letters have created a “village of poison” in East Yorkshire, according to residents.
Those on the receiving end of the “vulgar” mail say they have been "terrorised" through their letterboxes for the past two years.
The post sent by a mysterious writer to Shiptonthorpe, some of which has been seen by the BBC, is described as “personal, obscene and targeted”.
Humberside Police has carried out inquiries into some of the incidents.
The saga is reminiscent of scandalous letters that blighted Littlehampton, a small seaside town in Sussex, in the spring of 1920 - which sparked a House of Commons debate and period comedy drama Wicked Little Letters, starring Olivia Colman.
In Shiptonthorpe, Sophie - not her real name - said she received her first letter in December 2022 and reported it to the police.
At the time she was trying to become a ward councillor - and she was left “astonished” after opening it.
“It was vile, I ripped it up, I couldn’t believe where it had come from or why I’d received it," she said.
Despite destroying the letter, the hurtful accusations have stuck with Sophie.
“It was accusing me of what you could call being a loose woman,” she said.
“It said the only way I would ever get anywhere within politics would be if I was to perform unspeakable things to men."
'Just vile'
The writer ended the letter and said Sophie should be "turned out on the Beverley Westwood pasture with the rest of the cows".
“It was just vile,” Sophie recalled.
Humberside Police confirmed it received a report of the letter. “Inquiries were carried out at the time, including reviewing CCTV," the force said.
“However, the content of the alleged letter was unavailable and subsequently no further investigative opportunities were able to be obtained."
Officers said they gave Sophie safety advice. She has received three more letters since and reported them all to police.
Elsewhere in the village - home to just 500 people - Sophie's partner Sam has opened letters claiming to be from a friend, urging him “to be honest” with himself.
One, which the BBC has seen, warned Sam about Sophie’s private life, urging him to stop Sophie from “roaming”.
The letter was signed: “From a caring dear friend."
'I was frightened'
Sam said he feared for his partner after they both received letters. “I was frightened," he said. "I was worried that anybody would approach her because I didn’t know who else had knowledge of this letter."
Humberside Police said it received a report from a man who felt concerned after he received an anonymous letter to his home address.
“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," the force said.
Officers urged him to call them again if further incidents took place.
In another letter seen by the BBC, an anonymous writer told a villager: “I hope cancer finds you."
Another resident, Jason, said although he had not received any letters, the damage stretches further throughout the village.
“A cloud of vitriol has fallen over Shiptonthorpe,” he said.
“It is a wonderful village with wonderful people, but someone has brought poison to this village."
Jason claimed some people had left the village because of the letters.
“People come here for a quiet, tranquil, community-spirted life and that’s being damaged badly by one or two devilish people,” he said.
“In my opinion I believe this constitutes a hate crime.”
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