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Our pain at hand of evil accuserPaul White15/10/2001 When Ricky Smith received a poison pen letter ten years ago, he immediately had his suspicions about who had sent it. But it was not until another eight years had passed, and more than a hundred hate-filled letters had arrived at his home in Manfield, North Yorkshire, that James Forster, was finally arrested by police. In the meantime, Mr Smith had been accused in the poison-filled letters of benefit fraud, rape and even murder. He was "disgusted" at the four-month jail sentence handed out by Teesside Crown Court on Friday - of which Forster, a 68-year-old retired Open University lecturer, is expected to serve only half. Father-of-four Mr Smith said Forster's hate mail has left him and his wife, Audrey, reclusive - and, although they have a two-month respite while Forster serves his sentence, he feels it will not be enough time for the wounds to even begin to heal. "He has picked on me for eight years," said the unemployed 39-year-old. "I have always said, from day one, that it was Mr Forster. I'm outraged at the sentence. "He accused me of being a murderer, he accused me of being a 'gaolbird'. I would maybe get two or three letters a month," he said. Mr Smith was particularly targeted around Christmastime, with Forster apparently taking exception to his lavishly-decorated house, which each year they covered in festive lights. "He didn't even like me putting my fairy lights on my house," said Mr Smith. One of the more trying times was when Forster accused him of being a rapist. "Luckily, I live in a good village and the residents knew I wasn't. If I had lived in a town or something, I might have been harassed out of my own home," said Mr Smith. After a lengthy court case, Forster was found guilty in August of sending almost 200 obscene and threatening letters and leaflets, terrorising an elderly woman and incitement to burglary. He was released on bail pending Friday's sentencing and returned to his two homes in the village, which is just west of Darlington. "When he was out on bail, he had the audacity to walk around the village as if nothing had happened," said Mr Smith, who passed Forster in his car as recently as a week ago. "All he did was laugh." What caused Mr Smith to suspect Forster so early in the hate campaign, he is not exactly sure. "I even told the police the first letter I received was from him - I was well on the nail wasn't I?" But it was eight years before police were able to gather the evidence which led to Forster's conviction. Last night, Mr Smith branded his tormentor a coward, saying: "He hasn't the audacity to come to your face and say you are such and such. He's a coward." Forster has applied to the Court of Appeal for leave to appeal against his conviction. • Back
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