As nasty letters are filling letterboxes in Shiptonthorpe, East Yorkshire, we take a look at some of the other times poisonous pens have struck UK communitie

In a plotline reminiscent of Midsummer Murders, a sleepy Yorkshire village is being terrorised by a slew of poison pen letters that began landing on doormats two years ago. The hateful messages are anonymously typed and, despite complaints to police in Shiptonthorpe, East Yorkshire, the writer has not stopped. One letter tells its recipient, whose home had been damaged by floods, that the writer hopes for ‘lots of rain so your house can be flooded again and again’ and ‘you are washed away never to be seen again’. The troll also informed another local that ‘everyone agrees you should rot in hell’ and ‘hope cancer finds you very soon’. But this isn’t the only time people in Britain have been plagued by a bully who is writing letters with a poison pen letters and hateful ink. Let’s take a look at some of the other times this has hit the headlines...