Villager’s poison pen card to widow congratulating her on husband’s death
A VILLAGE’s former parish council chairman is fighting to clear his name after a court ruled he was behind a poison pen letter to a widow.
Douglas Staples, 69, was convicted of sending a malicious communication in the form of a card ‘congratulating’ her on the death of her husband.
Staples believes suspicion fell on him because he was hauled to court seven years ago for allegedly harassing another woman in his village.
On that occasion he was initially convicted of maliciously sending the fire brigade to inspect the woman’s historic cottage, and of setting up fake dating profiles of her online. However, he was later cleared on appeal. The retired IT security consultant now hopes he will be exonerated again – after insisting police were wrong to say his saliva was on an envelope containing the note.
The latest offence to hit Enborne, near Newbury, took place in May last year, with the victim being Dawn Taylor, 62 – organiser of the village garden society. She received the card the day after the funeral of her husband Peter.
Mrs Taylor had previously been upset by a planning application to build near to her house, and was disappointed when it was approved despite her objections to the parish council.
Police decided Staples had a grudge against her – and when the case against him was heard in April, Reading magistrates were told his saliva had been found in the gum of the card’s envelope. He was found guiltyand given a restraining order and told he must do 200 hours of unpaid work. He was also ordered to give £200 compensation to Mrs Taylor.
But Staples maintained his innocence, and has now launched an appeal at Reading Crown Court, where the case is due to be reviewed in November. Staples claims the DNA test carried was shoddy, and did not show any presence of his saliva.
Some of his DNA may have been on the card, he said – but so was that of many people, and could have been transferred in the local post or by some other innocent means.
He said: ‘I didn’t send [Mrs Taylor] the card celebrating the fact he [Peter] had passed on – I didn’t even know he’d died. But ever since the previous case I’ve been a marked man.’