Harrasment Letter

Q: I have received a solicitors letter accusing me of the above, the only contact I have had with the other party is in the course of my day to day social life, such as chance meetings in pubs and clubs etc. I feel this is just malicious which is motivated by a personal vendetta. Can I take any legal action to clear my name and prevent further accusations which are also been spread verbally?

A: A client of mine received a letter from the *police* saying she had committed one act of harassment, and another would lead to her arrest. The police had not spoken to her about it, and she had no clue what she was alleged to have done. Write back to the solicitors immediately, stating that you do not accept that there has been any harassment, and asking for full particulars of what you are alleged to have done. You could also try saying that the very act of instructing the solicitors to send that letter amounts to an act of harassment on the part of the other party, and that if there is any repetition you will be seeking legal remedies of your own. Above all, don't get dragged into anything yourself. Once you have placed it on record that you deny the allegations, leave it at that. You will probably make things ten times worse if you try to do anything against the other party.

If there is further trouble, *then* go for the jugular I see. One reason why I asked whether it was usual for the police to write in this way was because it seemed so odd that I couldn't help wondering whether the letter was a hoax. Not all police forces use watermarked letterheads, and it's very easy nowadays for people to produce convincing-looking letterheads with a computer, a scanner and a colour printer. That's why I've asked Richard whether the police have written back. We'll see what he says. If they confirm that they wrote the letter, then we'll know it was an error of judgement on their part rather than a malicious hoax on the part of someone else