A few days ago a Bugle reader shared a post from the ‘Shiptonthorpe Residents’ Facebook group.

The original post was from former Shiptonthorpe councillor Katy Wrathall who posted a photograph of an anonymous letter she had recently received. The author said they were hoping that it would rain so heavily she would be flooded out of her home again and again. This was particularly nasty as Katy had only just moved back into her home after it was flooded last October.

I became aware that these ‘poison pen’ letters were being delivered again several months’ ago but chose not to publicise the matter for fear of making things worse for the individuals concerned. Given that Katy herself had posted the letter I decided to make further enquiries.

For those who are new to this story you should be aware that anonymous letters started to arrive through the letterboxes of several former parish councillors and the parish clerk back in November 2022. I calculate that the police have received at least a dozen complaints with one person reporting at least 4 letters.

Early in 2023 just before the local elections a letter was sent to the ERYC Chief Executive claiming that the owner of Langland’s Garden Centre, Robert Ducker, was offering garden centre discounts to anyone who would vote for him to remain as a parish councillor. This was of course nonsense as anyone could get a discount by signing up to the centres loyalty scheme. Looking back that letter seemed quite funny but further correspondence became much darker.

People who I know have received letters will not talk to me for fear they are either ridiculed, singled out for comment at a parish council meeting or receive further letters.

I suspect that former parish councillors have not felt able to defend attacks on their honesty, capability and commitment to their local community for the same reasons.

As I was aware that at least 4 recipients had reported the letters to the police I approached Humberside Police to ask them what action they have taken to identify the author(s) and whether they have interviewed anyone.
Humberside Police did not respond to my specific questions but chose instead to issue the following statement:

“We received reports relating to alleged letters containing offensive language causing upset and distress between 1 November 2022 and 3 August 2024. Anyone with information please contact the police non emergency number 101 quoting ref number 24*111817.”

I suspect the response from Humberside police will not provide any reassurance to those affected that anything is being done to track down the author.

Letter above was sent to Katy Wrathall in January 2023.