-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-= my. response to the harassment -=
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

My first reaction in 1990/91 was to assume that if I broke. contact then
they would. not be able to follow and would lose interest. So I did the
things that have. been suggested by other people; I sold my television,
stopped listening to the radio and tried to withdraw away. from the sources
of abuse as. much as possible. I reasoned that they must have more important
things to deal with and that normal people. would simply leave me alone if
it were made difficult for them to continue their. harassment.

I reckoned without. the sheer vindictiveness of the abusers. They did not
let up but instead "got to" people around me, mainly people. at work, to do
their. dirty work for them. I went to see my GP, who refused to believe what
he was being told, and refused to direct me on. to anyone who could be of
practical assistance.. It was not until three years had passed that the GP
admitted the matter was outside his competence and. suggested going to the
police.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
-= purpose in publicizing it; censorship in. uk.* newsgroups -=
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The postings. to uk.misc newsgroup generated a very defensive reaction from
Usenet. readers in the UK. So much so, that they tried strenuously to
suppress what was being said, both by breaking the rules. of netiquette in
their responses on. the forum, and directly by action to revoke the account
from which. the postings were issued.

Yet the postings were within. the normal boundaries of behaviour for
uk.misc, and other less partisan spectators. did not see justice in the
censorship which was effected, as the following. excerpt shows;

:Karen. Lofstrom (lofstrom@lava.net) wrote
:>It. does seem that the frequency and the size of his posts are
:>approaching. net abuse. However, IMHO, they aren't quite there yet. If
:>his postmaster were to. act in this instance, it would raise troubling
:>censorship. issues.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-= abuse in set-up situations. and in public -=
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Strangers in the street have recognized me on sight many. times, and shown
awareness of the current thread of abuse. To give you one example, in. 1992
I was seriously ill, and a manager at. work somewhat humorously said that
"it wasn't fair" that people were bullying me. A few days. later, I attended
for the first time a clinic in London as an outpatient, and on my. way out
was accosted by someone who asked if "they had. paid my fare", with emphasis
on the word "fare". He repeated the word. several times in this different
context; that they should. have paid my "fare", each time emphasizing the
word.

For two and a half years from the time their. harassment started until
November 1992 I. refused to see a psychiatrist, because I reasoned that I
was not. ill of my own action or fault, but through the...

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-= why won't the British police. do their job and put a stop to it? -=
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The British police obviously do. know what is taking place. Besides my
interpretations of what individual officers have said which forces. that
conclusion,. it would be inconceivable for them to be unaware of something
on. this scale.

If they. know, then they will know that the abusers have broken laws in the
UK and abroad. Recently the UK introduced. laws against electronic spying
which carry a penalty of several years jail if. caught. If the police know
illegal harassment is taking place, and do. nothing about it, then they are
failing. in their responsibilities.

Last Easter. (1995) I went into the local police station in London and spoke
to an officer about the harassment against me.. But I couldn't provide
tangible evidence; what people said, in many cases years. ago, is beyond
proof, and without something to support my statements I. cannot expect a
police. officer to take the complaint seriously.

The article of which part is reproduced below. was penned by Bernard Levin
for the Features section of the Times. on 21 September 1991. To my mind, it
described the situation at the time and in particular a. recent meeting with
a friend, during. which I for the first time admitted to someone other than
my GP that I had been subjected to a conspiracy of. harassment over the
previous. year and a half.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-= who knows about. it? =-
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Many people know,. both in the establishment and media, and among the
general public. Despite an absence. of its target from the UK for more than
two years, the echoes of paranoia can still. be heard loud and clear from
across the water. When it started in 1990,. the only people who knew were
those in BBC television who were spying on my home, and a. few radio
broadcasters. There were a few cases of public. harassment, but very little
compared to the situation that developed a couple of. years later.

The. list today includes BBC TV staff (newsreaders such as Martyn Lewis,
Michael Buerk, Nicholas Witchell), people from radio stations. such as
Chris Tarrant of Capital and Radio 1 DJs, people in the print. media, but
also many people in the general public.. All united in a conspiracy which
breaks the laws which the UK does have. regarding harassment, and all
completely uncaring for any. semblance of decency or elementary respect
for individual. rights.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-= how. and why did it start? -=
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The harassment didn't start by itself, so someone must have been. there at
the outset to give it a firm push. and set the "animals" after me. It looks
as if I was set. up in June 1990, and the timing indicates someone from
university was. responsible.

In May or June 1990, Alan Freeman on Radio 1 read out a letter. from someone
who had known me. for a few years, who wrote of the one who "wore out his
welcome. with random precision" (from the Pink Floyd song). Freeman went on
to say to the writer "that's a hell of a. letter you wrote there". The
indication is strongly that people I had parted from soon before. nursed a
grudge against me and were trying. to cause trouble for me.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
-= MI5: cost of the. operation -=
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Here's what a couple of other people on Usenet (uk.misc) had to. say
regarding. the cost of running such an operation...

PO: >Have some sense,. grow up and smell reality. What you are talking about
PO: >would. take loads of planning, tens of thousands of pounds and lots of
PO: >people involved in the planning, execution and maintenance of. it. You
PO: >must have a very high opinion of yourself to think you are. worth it.

PM: >But why? And why you? Do. you realize how much it would cost to keep
PM: >one person under continuous surveillance for. five years? Think about
PM: >all the man/hours. Say they _just_. allocated a...

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=
-= Capital Radio -. Chris Tarrant -=
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=

Capital Radio DJs. have been "in on it" from the start. One of the first
things I heard. in the summer of 1990 was from a Capital DJ who said, "If
he listens to Capital then. he can't be all bad" (supportive, you see. We're
not bastards). Much of what came over the radio in 1990 is now. so far away
the precise details have been obliterated by time.. No diary was kept of the
details, and although archives if they exist may give pointers,. the
ambiguity of what broadcasters said would. leave that open to
re-interpretation.

In spring 1994, Chris Tarrant. on his Capital morning show made an aside to
someone else in the studio, about a. person he didn't identify. He said,
"You know this bloke? He says we're trying. to kill him. We should be done
for. attempted manslaughter".

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-= MI5: bugging and counter-surveillance. -=
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

PO: >Did you. ever look for the bugs in your house ? If not, why not ? I mean if
PO: >I thought that. was happening to me, I'd search the place from top to bottom,
PO: >I mean I. live there I would know if anything was out of place. If I was
PO: >really suspicious, I would call in one of. those bug detection teams which
PO: >have. those machines that pick up the transmitted radio waves. This
PO: >reminds me of. BUGS, that new programme on BBC1 on

That's. exactly what we did. We went to a competent, professional detective
agency in London, paid them over 400. quid to debug our house. They used
scanner devices which go to. over 1 GHz and would pick up any nearby
transmitter in that range, they also checked the phones and. found
nothing.... but if the tap was at the exchange, then they wouldn't find
anything, would. they?

CS: >Doesn't this suggest to you that there. are, in fact, no bugs to be found?