VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED
Inside mystery of poison pen letters tearing village apart in echo of Colman film and clues to who could be behind them
Some believe the notes, which are a mixture of handwritten and typed, are part of a personal vendetta
IT has all the hallmarks of a village mystery drama – furtive gossip, malicious whispers, poisonous pen letters and the arrival of local bobbies.
Sleepy Shiptonthorpe in East Yorkshire, home to just 500 people, is at the centre of a plot to rival 2023 black comedy movie Wicked Little Letters.
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Just like the film, starring Olivia Colman, locals are being sent letters filled with sick messages.
Residents have been hit with notes including vile lines such as, “I hope cancer finds you”, “Throw yourself under a bus”, “We don’t want you in our village” and, “Isn’t time you came out of the closet?”.
One woman was told she was so ugly she scared children, while a Christmas card sent to another home was simply filled with the word c**t.
The letters are written in varying fonts or by hand — but none have any full stops.
READ MORE ON MYSTERY LETTERS
Parish council chairman Victor Lambert, 72, told The Sun: “One read, ‘I hope you get cancer’ and the other suggested I throw myself under a bus on the nearby A1079.”
Conservative ward councillor Leo Hammond, who sits on East Riding of Yorkshire Council, had a letter which was “obsessed with my sexuality”.
One resident told The Sun: “It’s utterly hurtful but also childish.”
The pretty village sits on the edge of the Yorkshire Wolds, a stone’s throw from the home of Tory grandee David Davis, and looks like the last place ever likely to be engulfed by any sort of scandal.
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There is barely a soul around when we visit the area, where chocolate-box cottages sit alongside impressive gated properties that sell for more than £1million.
But malicious letters have been dropping through the front doors of parish councillors, community volunteers and, it is believed, even someone with cancer.
Barclays sent me 3,000 IDENTICAL letters in 3 days - I couldn't open door
Councillor Hammond is just one to have fallen victim to the mystery menace, receiving deeply personal letters about his sexuality, while a female villager has been accused of trading sexual favours.
Invisible ink
Some believe the notes are part of a personal vendetta. But most reckon a bitter parish council row lies at the heart of the mystery.
It is not the first time Shiptonthorpe has been hit by pestilent post, we can reveal.
One local told us: “It started around 20 years ago with the odd letter, but it has never been this intense or nasty before.”
It all mirrors Wicked Little Letters, which itself was based on the true story of a series of lewd letters that rocked the seaside town of Littlehampton, in West Sussex, between 1918 and 1923.
In a tale that gripped the nation, Irish migrant Rose Gooding was jailed for sending sweary notes to her neighbour, the deeply conservative Edith Swan.
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But it was eventually discovered Edith had been sending the messages to herself, after police convinced the Post Office to sell Swan stamps marked with invisible ink which they could then trace.
Modern-day police have the help of CCTV but so far have been unable to nail the cowardly culprit referred to on social media as the “Shiptonthorpe chicken”.
Locals are furious their normally harmonious hamlet has become a “laughing stock”.
One said: “I’ve grown up here and never seen the like. They are turning the place into a joke.”
Angela Black, 76, said: “I’ve lived here since 1999 and everyone has been wonderful and kind since the day I moved in. It’s such a friendly, caring place.
“It’s been said that whoever is sending these letters needs help. But I worked for years as a ward sister and have experience in psychiatry, and whoever is behind this is just plain bad.”
Intriguingly, many of the letters, delivered by Royal Mail, carry North and West Yorkshire postmarks, while those posted more locally usually go through the York sorting office.
The 25-plus notes sent so far have been a mixed bag, in the different fonts or handwritten, which has led to speculation there may be more than one author.
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The mystery began in November 2022 when a resident in a neighbouring village, with links to Shiptonthorpe, got a letter accusing her of being a “loose woman”.
The victim, who was standing as a ward councillor at the time, told the BBC: “It was vile. I ripped it up.
“I couldn’t understand where it had come from or why I’d received it.
“It was accusing me of what you would call being a loose woman. It said the only way I would ever get anywhere in politics would be if I was to perform unspeakable things to men.”
Her partner also got a note — warning him to stop his girlfriend from “roaming”.
And six months later, a villager received a message that read: “You are an ugly, fat cow. Kids are frightened when they see you.”
The same woman was sent another note last autumn, after her home had been flooded.
I think these letters are being sent by two individuals
Victor Lambert
She had just returned to her home when it arrived, and it said: “Most people in Shiptonthorpe are wanting rain and floods so you are washed away, never to be seen again.”
By that time, local councillors had also started getting repulsive notes amid tensions over last year’s village election.
The old parish council had been replaced, almost in its entirety, by new members in May last year when an unprecedented 55 per cent of the hamlet turned out to vote. Locals say the changeover caused “bad feeling” in the area.
Hostilities reached fever pitch during July last year, when police had to get involved.
A man was given a reprimand following a spat during a parish council meeting, after pushing past a councillor.
Chairman Mr Lambert, who has had eight letters: said: “They started after we were democratically elected. The village was ready for a change.
“Our main activities are to make sure verges are done, trees are cut, dogs don’t make a mess, etc.
“But we’ve also come with a new approach to stage more events in the village hall.
‘Intense and nasty’
“We ran a great D-Day event and raised about £2,000 for soldiers’ charities and we’ve got a Christmas day coming up for the children.
";It’s illogical that anyone would object to this sort of thing but I’ve had letters demanding I resign.”
Councillor Hammond, who is also deputy crime commissioner for the area, said: “This is highly unusual for Shiptonthorpe.
“It’s a very close-knit, very social community.
“I think these letters are being sent by two individuals. Mine have been a mix of handwritten and typed out — on different machines, on varying paper sizes, and in different fonts.
“Some have been signed by people who do not exist, while others are anonymous.
“The focus of most of mine are around what I would describe as ‘small P’ politics, saying, ‘We don’t want you in our village’ — that sort of thing.
The notes have been mentioned in a few community newsletters but it’s all very mysterious
Peter Moulton
“Others have a weird fixation with my sexuality — which seems strange, that someone sees that as an insult in the 21st century.
“Residents tell me that this has happened on the odd occasion over the last 20 years but this is quite a campaign, that has lasted for a lot longer and is more intense and nasty than ever.”
A former parish council insider told us: “I’m certain there are two writers, across the political divide.
“We will probably be all very surprised when we find out who is behind it.”
Humberside Police says it had reports from three people, including two women, complaining they had received letters between December 2022 and August this year.
The force said that in the first case there were “no viable lines of inquiry to identify a suspect”.
In the second, CCTV was looked at but there were “no further investigative opportunities”.
Police were contacted in August by a man who received an anonymous letter, but the content was not considered criminal.
Meanwhile, most people are just trying to get on with their daily life, with many shocked the blink-and-you’ll-miss it village has been in the news.
Jeweller Peter Moulton, 59, said: “The notes have been mentioned in a few community newsletters but it’s all very mysterious.
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“I was watching the news the other night, which talked about what was going on with Hezbollah and Israel then featured President Zelensky of Ukraine — and then the Shiptonthorpe letters. It is all a bit surreal.”
Another resident said: “It’s hardly the crime of the century. But just like the woman in Wicked Little Letters, I’m sure whoever is behind this will get their comeuppance.”
Look at the clues
JUST who is the “Shiptonthorpe chicken”? Below, we put together some of the evidence . . .
Letters are usually marked with a York postcode. Many of the notes have stamps from other locations across Yorkshire. Could it be the author is travelling far and wide to post them, or works elsewhere?
The notes have mostly been sent to the homes of local councillors. Does someone have a grudge over issues such as dog poop or tree cutting?
Letters started in earnest following local elections last year. Could the writer hate Labour and be taking it out on local politicians?
Some letters are handwritten, while others are typed in different fonts on what looks like different machines. Could there be two people at work?
Shiptonthorpe is staging more local events. Is the poison pen writer simply a killjoy?
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