A SERIES of criminally racist letters have been circulated in Watford, in what appears to be a systematic campaign by the same person.

One of the hand-written notes was sent to a primary school, catering for four to 11 year-olds.

In extreme language it called for non-white children to be thrown out.

A letter making the same demands was also sent to one of the town's youth centres.

And, according to police, individuals have been targeted by the same racist.

Material in the letters was described as "particularly offensive and illegal" by hate crime officer Nobby Jutler.

A spokesman for education at Hertfordshire County Council called the letters "deplorable".

"Racists will not be allowed to dictate the policies of the Children, Schools and Families department," she said.

It is the first time such a deliberate and sustained hate campaign has occurred in the town. Other incidents of poison pen letters have been isolated.

The Watford Observer has also learned that another anonymous letter was recently sent to a Muslim group. It made offensive remarks about Islam and referred to historical massacres of Muslims by Christians in the Spanish peninsular.

Attached to the letter was a copy of an article from The Watford Observer about an event called the "Islamic Experience", which aims to educate children about the religion.

This letter riddled with grammatical and historical inaccuracies is typed and appears to be from a different source to the hand written notes. It has not been reported to police.

The news caused alarm among ethnic minority groups.

The letter attacking Islam was promising a repeat destruction of Muslim civilisation, culture and people, according to Mr Mohsin Aslam. "This is referring to ethnic cleansing on a major scale, and they are saying it is going to happen. It is not even a veiled death threat," he said.

Mr Sachdev Seyan, of Watford's Indian Association, said he was particularly concerned at young people being targeted.

He said: "It is very worrying if this is demonstrating what lies in the future for Watford. I think we need to stop it."

The unprecedented series of letters, reported to police in mid-May, comes after massive increases in recorded figures for hate crimes.

In 2000-2001 there were 270 reported racial incidents and crimes. This rose by 49 per cent the following year, to 401.

The rise does not necessarily reflect increasing racism, rather the fact victims are now more likely to report incidents.

Officers from Watford's Hate Crime unit are currently investigating the hand written notes.

Inspector Paul Newell said the matter was being treated "very seriously". Six notes have been reported to police so far. Mr Newell appealed for any other victims to come forward.

He said: "We do need people to report it if they have had a letter.

"They should put it immediately in a bag to preserve any evidence that may come from from fingerprints. The envelope should also be retained as this can be particularly useful to us."

Mr Newell said the police investigation was now being stepped up.

"We are waiting for things to happen and hopefully we can catch who is doing it. It does have an effect on people to receive a letter of this kind."

Anyone with information about the letters can telephone 01923 472085.

June 17, 2002 13:00