VILLAGE SLANDERERS

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 256, 25 July 1936, Page 22

VILLAGE SLANDERERS

“Poison Pen” Campaign

Anonymous letters, whispered gossip, and village slander pursue Mrs. Dorothy Crofts, a chemist of Lonfford, Kent.

In spite of the verdict of “natural causes” that was returned at the inquest on her husband, this campaign of slander persists. “The poison pen that killed him is- still busy,” she stated to an interviewer. Her husband, Mr. Ernest Crofts, much older than herself, died suddenly. While the funeral arrangements were being made an inquest was ordered. At the inquest Dr. Davies, Home Office pathologist, testified that there was no trace of poison. “Slander killed him,” said Mrs. Crofts. “He suffered even more than I. Now, wherever I go in the village I feel eyes on me. I see people stop speaking to stare at me. “When I try to find out who is responsible fo'r the wicked rumours circulated about me, all I can learn is ‘they tell me,’ or ‘they say.’ “Unpleasant letters from all over the country are pouring in on me. I have even received anonymous letters accusing me of murder.” A poison pen campaign against Mr. and Mrs. Crofts started after they were fined £2O at Dartford police court on a charge of cruelty to a dog Ahich had been brought to their shop to be destroyed. More than 200 letters were sent to them in less than six months. “Now they are coming again,” said Mrs. Crofts. “Most of them .are anonymous. The great relief I felt when the verdict ended my ordeal lias been followed by misery. Sometimes I feel I cannot stand it. I have come to dread every post. “At first I felt I should have to leave the district and go to live among friends. But why should I do that? My husband and I bought this business three years ago so that I should have something to live on if he died. If I allowed myself to be driven away now I should have nothing. I must stay here and fight it out.” The "poison-pen” letters, which continue to arrive by every post, have been handed to the police.