| The North East | News | Manfield | | Help | Site Map | Contact Us | Feedback | Archive |
 |
 | ||||||||
|
News
Sport Business Fish4 Jobs Homes Cars Other Content Fish4 Jobs Homes Cars Columnists Commercial |
|
|
|
|
||||
| ||||||||
|
||||||||
Ricky Smith's story - Branded 'lazy' for being out of workThe hate that spilled from James Forster's pen was vicious, abusive and downright nasty. While some received abuse about other villagers, many had the hatred directed at them and their families. Ricky Smith, a father-of-four, received abuse apparently because he was unemployed. Letters branded him "idle" and "lazy". Many people in the village received cards claiming he was receiving £400-a-week from the DSS but the letters he himself received were the most frightening. In one he was accused of rape and burglary. Another threatened to "cut him up into little pieces and post him around the village". Others were bizarrely sent saying he had had a haircut. Mr Smith said: "I knew it was him (Forster), and I was afraid of what he would do next. He noticed everything." Eventually, Mr Smith was forced to install closed-circuit television cameras at his home after a threat in a letter to poison his beloved flowers. He and wife Audrey were so infuriated by the incident they contacted the media. He said: "I went public because I felt it might get something done." But, he said, the reaction from the other villagers was "incredible". He said his family was ostracised and, although people would not say anything to their faces, they heard the "whispers". "It was as if we had revealed the village's 'dark secret'," he said. Mr Smith has received no other letters since Forster was arrested in 1999. "It has been very quiet in the village since then. He (Forster) tried to hold his head up at first, but then did not even bother. We never saw him after a while - and that's the way we like it." • Back
|
|
|
|
|
||||
 Email page Start Here Contact
Us Subscribe Other sites Map Help Feedback Home Archive |
Regional News | Campaigns | Columnists | The Advertiser | National news | Personal Announcements | |
|||||||
Privacy Policy © Copyright 2009 Newsquest Media Group - A Gannett Company This site is part of Newsquest's audited local newspaper network |