23/04/2003
Bolt from the blue for poison pen writer . .
.
Poison pen letter writer James Forster was condemned by a judge for "destroying
the fabric" of the village he terrorised for more than a decade.
12/01/2002
Village 'poison pen' drops legal bid
The Manfield poison pen letter writer has abandoned his latest efforts to
have his conviction overturned.
13/12/2001
Hate mail writer's appeal bid fails
Efforts by the infamous Manfield poison pen letter writer to clear his name
have hit a major setback.
15/10/2001
Our pain at hand of evil accuser
Following the jailing of the man responsible for the 12-year Manfield poison
pen letter campaign, Paul White talks to a man who became a frequent target
for James Forster's vitriolic abuse
13/10/2001
Poisonous pensioner jailed for village hate
The author of the infamous Manfield poison pen letters was behind bars last
night for carrying out a 12-year hate campaign against his neighbours.
Residents hope court ruling will heal the wounds
Villagers have hit out at the sentence handed down to poison pen letter
writer James Forster. But how will they cope if he continues to live Manfield
when he is released? Lindsay Jennings reports
10/08/2001
Guilty
of poisoning heart of a village
More than a dozen years of suspicion and fear in a tiny village finally ended
yesterday with the conviction of the man who waged a hate-mail campaign against
his neighbours.
'Now I want justice for my family'
One man who saw behind the image of Forster as an elderly and harmless man
was Ricky Smith, wrongly branded an evil rapist by the poison pen author.
The unmasking of a village's author of evil
As James Forster, author of the Manfield Poison Pen Letters, awaits his
sentence, Dawn Turnbull delves into the background of the man, the village
on which he inflicted his campaign of suspicion and abuse, and the detectives
who brought his 12-year reign of terror to an end
Piece of paper that ripped case wide open
Police investigating the Manfield letter writer had to wait almost 13 years
before they had a breakthrough in the case.
Affable gent with devious intellect
When police finally swooped on poison pen letter writer James Forster they
found him to be a very strange man.
House blow may have lit the fuse
One of Britain's leading forensic scientists, Ian Stephen, talks to Arifa
Akbar about the mindset that leads a man to terrorise his neighbours, and
assesses what the repercussions may be on the villagers of Manfield
Neighbourly row fuelled hate campaign
A strikingly similar poison pen writer to James Forster was brought to justice
at Teesside Magistrates' Court last November.
As the last few drops of poison are squeezed out
James Forster's guilty verdict has brought a pianfully long era of neighbourhood
trauma to an end. But the retired university lecturer has left a community
bewildered over the cause of his immense hatred. Arifa Akbar peeks into
the world of the man behind the poison pen legacy
Pat Sinclair's story - Distrust spread by letters
drove me over the edge
Of the 86 houses in the village of Manfield, it is believed that as many
as 64 received hate mail penned by James Forster.
The Kelletts' story - Forster branded innocent
teenager a call girl
When the Kellett family moved to Manfield they thought it would be an ideal
place to stay while their home in Butterknowle, near Bishop Auckland, County
Durham, was renovated.
Ricky Smith's story - Branded 'lazy' for being
out of work
The hate that spilled from James Forster's pen was vicious, abusive and
downright nasty.
Shirley Dodd's story - Sons accused over bomb
note
It seemed no one was safe from the hatred that James Forster was intent
on subjecting the village of Manfield to.
Forster's wife, Elizabeth
The final victim of the Manfield letter writer may be someone closer to
home than the others.
Map of Manfield
Showing the houses which received letters.
(This may take some time to load.)
09/08/2001
A riddle for Miss Marple - judge
A judge yesterday described the "dark and sinister" underbelly of an outwardly
peaceful village at the centre of a 12-year campaign of poison pen letters.
08/08/2001
Derogatory nicknames were used to describe neighbours
The pensioner accused of a 12-year hate-mail campaign yesterday denied he
was obsessed with his neighbours despite keeping a detailed diary of their
movements.
07/08/2001
'I didn't send poison letters'
A pensioner accused of waging a 12-year hate mail campaign against his neighbours
denied yesterday that he was the Manfield poison pen writer.
04/08/2001
Man accused of hate mail says he was 'fit up'
The man accused of subjecting a village to a 12-year hate mail campaign
told police he believed someone was trying to "fit him up", a court heard
yesterday.
03/08/2001
'Girl, 13, was sent porn mag'
A 13-year-old girl was sent an obscene pornographic magazine by a former
Open University lecturer after her mother replaced him as parish council
clerk, a court heard yesterday.
02/08/2001
Court is told of poison posters
A woman who arrived home to find a "poison poster", spotted a familiar figure
leaping into a neighbouring driveway minutes earlier, a court heard yesterday.
'Misery of the poison pen victims'
A former neighbourhood watch co-ordinator in a village at the centre of
a 12-year hate campaign has told how he became one of the many victims,
a court heard yesterday.
01/08/2001
Pensioner's '12-year campaign of hate'
A pensioner waged a 12-year hate campaign against his unsuspecting neighbours
in a picturesque village, a court heard yesterday.
Email page
Start Here
Contact
Us
Subscribe
Other sites
Map
Help
Feedback
Home
Archive
