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Pat Sinclair's story - Distrust spread by letters drove me over the edge

Dawn Turnbull
10/08/2001

Of the 86 houses in the village of Manfield, it is believed that as many as 64 received hate mail penned by James Forster.

As he sat hunched over his desk writing his vitriolic letters, wearing latex gloves to conceal his fingerprints, he spread distrust and suspicion through the village.

One victim suffered a nervous breakdown, which she in part blames on Forster.

Pat Sinclair lived in Manfield with her then husband, David, and their two sons, from 1978 to 1990.

She said: "It was an idyllic village, the ideal place to bring children up or so it seemed. The people were nice, friendly. At first, there was no trouble."

The dream was soon to shatter, however.

Mrs Sinclair said: "People began talking in vague terms about what was going on. We just thought 'how peculiar'."

But as the situation in Manfield became worse, she said an atmosphere of distrust and suspicion began to emerge.

She said: "Everybody began suspecting everyone else."

And it got worse. Letters were going around saying various children in the village were being blamed for the damages and vandalism by Eric Collin.

Mrs Sinclair's children, then aged 15 and 12, were fingerprinted, along with certain other children, to "eliminate them" from police inquiries.

She said: "That was terrible of the police to do that. This caused a very bad feeling in the village. It was causing trouble among the children because some were targeted and some were not."

The trouble finally got too much for the family and they moved out of the village but were still plagued with letters at their new home.

Some of the letters Mrs Sinclair received were sexually explicit.

"These absolutely shocked me," she said. "I feel so angry about it. But the ones about the boys upset me most."

In 1992, Mrs Sinclair had a nervous breakdown.

"I was already heading towards a breakdown but what he did contributed.

"The letters invaded our lives. We began to fear the postman coming.

"Even today, I really feel angry about the man. He has made so many people's lives miserable."

Mrs Sinclair is considering legal action against Forster for the damage he has caused her and her family.

She said: "I think the villagers should sue him. He put me and my family, and many other people, through hell.

"However, nothing will repay us for what he has done."

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