Quaker on trial over ‘unsavoury’ letters she sent to society elders
A PENSIONER harassed two members of her Quaker society with ‘ unsavoury’ letters and emails over the course of more than a year, a court heard.
Julia Wermig-Morgan, 69, allegedly became upset over a ‘clique’ that had formed within the religious organisation which she had been a part of for several years.
The psychotherapist is accused of bombarding Caroline Kibblewhite, a retired probation officer and assistant clerk of the society, and Valerie Shepherd, one of the elders, with letters, emails and postcards.
In the ‘unpleasant’ correspondence, Mrs Wermig-Morgan, from Burton Bradstock, Dorset, made ‘ridiculous’ claims about the group, including allegations of bullying and fraud, Weymouth Magistrates’ Court heard.
She was also said to have made allegations of a sexual nature against the daughter of one member and accused others of being ‘old ladies spreading malicious gossip’, claiming one was an ‘alcoholic in denial’.
Despite being asked to stop sending the ‘distressing’ mail twice by the police, Mrs WermigMorgan carried on with her campaign of harassment, magistrates heard.
She has now gone on trial facing two counts of harassment without violence between December 21, 2020, and March 5 this year. Magistrates heard the spat was centred on the Bridport Quaker Meeting.
Although the charges started from the end of 2020, the defendant had allegedly started sending the letters and emails in 2019.
Olivia McGonigle, prosecuting, said: ‘In May 2019 the Bridport Quaker Meeting sent a letter to her outlining their concerns and asked her to refrain from sending the emails and letters.
‘She continued to send correspondence and in August 2020 she received a letter from Dorset Police and she agreed to stop. However, she continued to email and write letters to different members of the community.’
Miss McGonigle said that the correspondence related to members’ personal lives rather than religious matters and had caused ‘significant distress’.
The court was shown an email Mrs Wermig-Morgan sent on January 3, 2021. In it, she claimed a ‘little clique’ had been ‘bullying’ other members, including herself. She claimed one of the group was an ‘alcoholic in denial.’
Mrs Wermig- Morgan also accused the alleged victims of trying to ‘destroy my reputation’ by going to the police ‘all on the strength of some old ladies spreading malicious gossip’. Mrs Kibblewhite, the safeguarding representative for the Bridport Quakers, said she met Mrs Wermig-Morgan to try to stop her sending the correspondence.
‘I asked her to think carefully and stop making these allegations that she was making.
‘I retired many years ago from the probation service and I retired down here for a quiet life and I didn’t want to get into any confrontation.’
Mrs Shepherd said: ‘Her correspondence caused great distress and we asked her to stop doing it. That’s all we asked of her. There were allegations of a fraud. She would attack various individuals. It was just ridiculous and also very hurtful.
‘Quite often I thought she had given up and then out of the blue there would be another postcard.
‘I tried to ignore it but it gets under your skin and you can’t help but think about them.’
In her police interview, Mrs Wermig-Morgan said she accepted she had sent a ‘lot of correspondence’ but insisted she had done nothing wrong, except to write to the correct channels.
Mrs Wermig-Morgan denies the charges of harassment. The trial continues.
‘It gets under your skin’