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The unmasking of a village's author of evil

Dawn Turnbull
10/08/2001

Police trying to unmask the author of what have become known as the Manfield Letters unravelled a trail of abuse, pornography and threats.

And they found the letter writer, James Forster, to be an obsessive, snobbish and vindictive man who believed he was above suspicion.

For years, the residents of the quiet village of Manfield had been plagued by a mysterious letter writer, sending poison pen letters to their homes.

In September 1993, the file was handed to Detective Sergeant Mick Griffiths, of Richmond police, for whom Manfield was once on his beat.

Four years on, he sat down with Detective Constable Graham Stockton and, over three weeks, carefully examined all the letters, calling cards and posters which, they eventually concluded, were the work of the same hand.

Det Sgt Griffiths said: "We were trying to establish a pattern, and that had not proved easy for the previous investigators to do."

During their investigation, stake-outs, forensic analysis and other techniques were used in attempts to trap the culprit.

Officers believe that the campaign began in 1986 or 1987.

Sgt Griffiths said: "One woman recalls receiving written threats to paint bomb her house, which had happened before, and these letters said it was going to happen again.

"When I was a village policeman, I remember these threats being carried out. Lightbulbs full of paint were thrown at the house and her trees were damaged."

From that point, about 150 letters, calling cards and posters were delivered around the village by Forster.

Police believe many hundreds more may have been thrown away and never reported to them by disgusted recipients.

Other ways of making his neighbours' lives hell was to follow.

Forster appears not to have lacked imagination - albeit viciously unpleasant.

Roy Kellet's daughter, Joanne, was also targeted, and officers believe his dislike of her began because she did not recognise him at a bus stop one day.

Sgt Griffiths said: "Joanne did not recognise Forster one day. The next thing he is leaving calling cards saying she is a prostitute, which was completely unfounded, and people are ringing the poor girl up."

Another resident objected to a planning application Forster submitted, and that was his fate sealed.

Forster believed he was above some people in the village, and they became targets of his deranged behaviour.

His arrogance extended to his dealings with police.

Sgt Griffiths said: "He sees himself as quite high up in society, because he was formerly a university lecturer. He seemed to think we were just thick plods."

He would store information for long periods of time before hitting people with what he knew in a letter.

Sgt Griffiths said: "He would bide his time."

Forster had three main victims - although many more people received his vicious rantings and ramblings.

And his reasons for targeting people were wide-ranging.

"A vicar was given abuse for marrying a couple where one partner had been divorced. He wrote to one man calling him idle because he did not have a job," said Sgt Griffiths.

"He had objections against people such as a local parish clerk because the family did not live in the village and he thought they should."

Officers were aware they had to be careful when investigating the letters.

"Mud sticks, and if we had arrested anyone before we were absolutely sure we could get him convicted, and even if they had been found innocent, they would have been branded by some people anyway," said Sgt Griffiths.

But even after years of patient detective work, the police still had to move slightly quicker than they wanted to.

A 13-year-old girl was sent disgusting pornographic material in the post, because Forster did not like one of her parents.

With the magazine, which was luckily intercepted by the girl's mother, was a chilling note reading: "A Gift from Manfield".

Sgt Griffiths said: "We knew how the Manfield letter writer had treated young girls in the past. It was time to act.

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