The prime minister was among dozens of people across the UK who were targeted by a poison pen letter writer.And this is news?
Gordon Brown's Fife constituency office received a letter in April, while others were sent to mosques, hospitals, universities and private homes.That’s what constitutes ‘hate’ now..? Wanting to get out of Europe?
Much of the hate mail, mostly posted from Hampshire, includes references to "repatriation" and "exit Europe".
They have also been received in Derbyshire, Merseyside, Lincolnshire and Bedfordshire.There’s a manhunt going on for a poison pen crank?
These forces had initially been conducting separate investigations until Hampshire Police set up Operation Heron in January 2009 to co-ordinate the search.
I’m sure it’s not nice to have a letter full of obscenities, perhaps written in green ink, delivered to your door, but seriously! Don’t the police have better things to do?
One of the letters was sent to Somers Park Primary School in Portsmouth.Oh, good grief! Have we lost all sense of proportion in this country?
Head teacher Janet Fleming said: "The content of the letter was sickening.
"But I would want to assure parents that this is a perfectly safe environment for their children to be in and that all the steps necessary to keep children safe were in place and still are in place.
"I am concerned that the person who sent it is not mentally stable. The language is appalling."
Just throw it away, love. Unless it contains a direct threat to your children, or perhaps a severed body part, it’s just a crank.
By now, you must know (the police would have told you) that he or she has written to all sorts of people. So why the ‘CODE RED! CODE RED!’ response? Do you think it will reassure the parents?
Det Insp Donna Goff, of Hampshire Constabulary, said: "Many of the letters people have found extremely distressing.By receiving one letter, no matter how obscene?
"Many people have felt extremely victimised by the letters."
People need to get a grip…
The letters do not target a particular race, culture or religious group but are all pro-English, investigators said.Ah, I see where this is going…
The inquiry will feature on the BBC1's Crimewatch programme on Tuesday night when officers will appeal for assistance in tracing the culprit.What are they going to do? Ask the audience if they know anyone who is too ‘pro-English’?
Al-Jahom concurs on the pointlessness of this manhunt, and has an example of the letters from the Beeb too.
I watched Crimewatch last night. In order, the cases featured were: the murder of a man in his own home in front of his 90 year-old father (following a complaint about the poor tarmacking of his drive, hmmm), a home invasion case in North London involving the gang rape of the seven-months pregnant occupant (no descriptions, CCTV images shown at extreme distance), and the artwork of the Hampshire letter writer. No distinction was made in the severity of these crimes, though there were loving close-ups of all the letters, with English flag motif magnified.
ReplyDelete"...a home invasion case in North London involving the gang rape of the seven-months pregnant occupant (no descriptions, CCTV images shown at extreme distance)..."
ReplyDeleteGood old Beeb. Descriptions are here.
OK,
ReplyDeleteI am the warden of a religious building. We get a lot of mail. Some of it from complete nutcases. One of these nutters is so far round the bend it is beyond belief. He makes David Ickes sound like common sense. I honestly can't convey the utter insanity contained and the increasing anger. Not least the fact that in none of these letters has there been a return address or anything yet he seems increasingly annoyed that no one has replied to him. The missives (up to six pages) are photocopied so I assume we are not the only ones getting them.
Am I concerned? Have I bought a shotgun? Nailed heavy planks across the windows? Called the cops?
No.
PS they are typescript on an olde worlde typewriter with diagrams (which make no sense) and scribbled marginal notes and are all broadly about religion (as far as I can make out) but not in a sense comprehensible to any major school of theology of any religion I can think of.
'Don’t the police have better things to do?'
ReplyDeleteAny police 'service' with a rational order of priorities certainly would have. However 'hate crime' seems to be where you earn your spurs in the police these days- how secure does that make those of us who don't tick the right boxes feel ?
As for the 'hate crime' slot on Crimewatch, it comes hot on the heels of the news that Nick Griffin is due to appear on QT next month. I'd not be surprised if last night's slot was agreed by the BBC nabobs as part of a trade-off for allowing Griffin onto QT (as the Beeb charter appears to require). If so, I think we can expect more planted stories to 'prepare the ground' before the transmission of Griffins bout with Jack Straw on QT next month. Watch this space.
"Words will never hurt me"?
ReplyDeleteHave you ever had a box of leaflets drop on your head?
As an English nationalist, do you think they are on to me? Perhaps I'd better close my blog and warn all the rest of the Witanagemot to do so as well.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, what a waste of police time, they don't need a manhunt, all they need is one plod to do this simple task.
"Many of the letters people have found extremely distressing.
ReplyDelete"Many people have felt extremely victimised by the letters."
As they would say in these parts: harden the fuck up, Britain.
I must admit I was amazed that this crank letter writer featured on Crimewatch - what with all the violence, rape and murder going on it seems amazing that they should devote such a priority to a nut with a penchant for writing - but that is the world we live in I guess.
ReplyDelete"Am I concerned? Have I bought a shotgun? Nailed heavy planks across the windows? Called the cops?
ReplyDeleteNo."
Exactly! And you've at least had multiple letters - there was nothing in this to indicate that whoever it was was fixated on a single target.
"...'hate crime' seems to be where you earn your spurs in the police these days- how secure does that make those of us who don't tick the right boxes feel?"
Not at all. Which is why I view the attempts by the disability lobby to ride the coattails of the Pilkington case with such a jaundiced eye...
"Have you ever had a box of leaflets drop on your head?"
Heh! The pen really is mightier than the AH-64, it seems...
"Honestly, what a waste of police time, they don't need a manhunt, all they need is one plod to do this simple task."
ReplyDeleteAnd one to fill in the target sheets. And one to review his/her work. And one to double-check it to ensure it meets 'diversity' targets...
"As they would say in these parts: harden the fuck up, Britain."
Indeed. This is the nation that once painted most of the globe pink?
How far we've fallen...
"...what with all the violence, rape and murder going on it seems amazing that they should devote such a priority to a nut with a penchant for writing..."
Perhaps there's a 'white elderly English man of letters' target in ACPO guidelines we don't know about?
In the New Labour instruction manual, aka '1984' it was the intellectuals, i.e. those that could read and write, that were watched all the time. The plebs were left pretty much alone.
ReplyDeleteThe letter writer is obviously one of these right wing terrorists we hear so much about. It's important they catch him before he takes to the streets in his pajamas and assaults a PCSO with a rolled up newspaper.
It was me, I wrote the letters!
ReplyDeleteYou'll never take me alive pigs!