Police probe homophobic poison pen letter in Hemingbrough

A homophobic letter sent to a same-sex couple in a Selby area village is being investigated by police officers.

Selby

Police probe homophobic poison pen letter in Hemingbrough

The abusive note, sent to Hemingbrough residents Justin Heaven and his partner Robert, used a number of homophobic slurs before warning the couple to 'get the house up for sale' and that the couple would be 'run out of the village'.

The author of the poison pen letter, apparently under the misguided belief that they were speaking on behalf of the village, decreed that Hemingbrough was 'a respetable (sic) village' where 'we don't like gays living here'. Their missive went on to tell the couple that they should 'push off back to where [they] came from'.

Once the letter had been posted to the village's facebook forum however, it became pretty clear that the anonymous scribbler's views were not shared by their fellow villagers. Many vented their outrage at the content of the letter with more than 300 people sharing a posted photo of the letter in recent days.

One comment left by the administrator of the Hemingbrough Forum read, 'Please do not believe that one person's actions and belief is a reflection of the reality here in Hemingbrough. On a whole, Hemingbrough is a tolerant, open-minded, friendly and welcoming place. There is always one in a crowd no matter where you live. I hope the waves of support for Justin's post show this about Hemingbrough.'

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Police confirmed to Selby Online that the matter has been reported to them. They said officers would be speaking to the complainants in due course.

 WARNING:
 The following post contains language that some may find offensive...