Police duped by hoax mail

Sussex Police Press officer Paddy Rea was touched by a letter sent from a colleague in another force telling the heart-rending tale of John Craig.

The letter says John is a seven-year-old with terminal cancer who is trying to get into the Guinness Book of Records by collecting Britain's biggest collection of compliment slips.

But the letter, which dates back more than ten years, is a hoax.

It concludes: "Would you please send a compliment slip to John and to ten different organisations. As you will appreciate, time is of the essence."

Mr Rea sent the letter on headed paper to a string of media outlets in the county.

He said: "It came to me from another police force and had all sorts of letters attached from the NHS and so on.

"I took it in good faith and the name didn't ring any bells. I was just trying to do my bit for the community and it looks likes it has backfired."

A spokeswoman for the Guinness Book of Records said: "We are aware that this letter is, once again, doing the rounds.

"I get approximately ten calls a day about these chain letters so this well-meaning Press officer in Sussex is not alone.

"It is, of course, a total hoax and we would ask that people kindly destroy any copies of the letter that come into their possession.

"It, and any others like it, are not connected with us in any way. We have a company policy against chain letters and would never accept chain letter claims."

The letter began in 1989 when the family of seven-year-old Craig Shergold, who really did have cancer, set up an appeal to put him in the record books for the world's biggest collection of get well cards.

By 1990, 16 million cards had arrived and his wish had come true. Craig's tumour was successfully removed in 1991.

However, the letters continued to be passed around, the name changing into various forms over the years.

The family's address in Carshalton, Surrey, was granted its own postcode because of the huge amount of mail received.