Poison pen letters

One of our members, a GP, had been receiving poison pen letters from an ex-patient. The letters (which the ex-patient had been pinning to the surgery door) were extremely offensive - they attacked the doctor’s physical appearance, his morals and clinical competence. Some were obscene and others contained racist overtones. The author had only been a patient of his for a matter of months some years earlier. The GP had no recollection of her or of the one consultation that she had attended.

The doctor asked for our help and we immediately applied for an injunction, which was granted three days later. Unfortunately, the GP’s persecutor was not deterred by the injunction and only increased her activities.

Our solicitor had several discussions with a local CID officer, who told him that he was taking the matter very seriously. The patient was arrested and charged with criminal damage, sending malicious communications and behaving in a racially aggravated manner. She pleaded guilty, was placed on 12 months’ probation with the proviso that she comply with treatment, and a restriction order was issued prohibiting her from ‘directly or indirectly contacting, molesting, pestering, harassing or otherwise interfering’ with the GP. She was also ordered to stay away from his surgery or any other premises in which he may work.