As former Clerk to Misterton Parish Council I thought I'd put out an update re the 2009/10 multi-anonymous and forged letter attacks on the former administration whose term of office ended in 2010. The attacks began with the illicit use of confidential Bassetlaw Standards Committee information, but then widened.
Several of us targeted have plugged away to get at the truth - the main reason being that some of the letters falsely and maliciously suggested financial impropriety on our part. Personally I wasn't too pleased about the forged letter, used by a certain individual to cause me problems in my employment. And then, of course, the whole thing was an attempt to undermine democracy.
It's not been easy because we've had no co-operation from the very people you'd think would want to help. Bassetlaw District Council spent £10,450 on two inconclusive investigations, but, other than telling us what we already know, have refused to tell us anything, and are protected from publication under the Freedom of Information Act. They won't even apologise for the misuse of their confidential information. They refuse to meet me to discuss our evidence. Likewise, the Clerk to Misterton Parish Council refuses to meet me, and has recently said that all emails from me will be directed to Trash if I persist in writing about the attacks. Misterton members say they don't know anything about the attacks, and they refuse to discuss them. We thought we might be getting somewhere on one occasion, but the conditions laid down made it impossible.
We've paid for professional, forensic analysis of certain anonymous letter envelopes and have received reports saying that, on a balance of probabilities, two identified individuals wrote them. But we really want to identify the writers of the letters. If anyone out there knows anything, please give me a ring on 01709 813360.
David Wright
I thought I should add to yesterday's comment. One could be forgiven for thinking that we ought to be able to sue the two identified envelope writers for libel. It's not that straightforward. It seems the gang comprised a number of people, and there's no proof that the people who wrote the envelopes (possibly four in total) also wrote the forged letter and the five anonymous letters. Incidentally, it looks like the forged letter was typed on the same electric typewriter as one of the anonymous letters.
ReplyDeleteIf anyone knows anything, it would be appreciated if they could contact me. It's a great shame that Misterton Parish Council won't help. The Parish Council is aware that the two people identified are unconnected to it, and we would really like to discuss the matter with it, with a view to it speaking to those people. After all, the attacks were not just on individual members of the former administration, but on the Parish Council itself. It doesn't seem right that the Parish Council should wash its hands of a multi-attack on itself and its own personnel.
David Wright