Dementi on the part of Hanwell Mental Institute

Warning: disturbing messages and movies ahead

Recently, I have been receiving strange emails from a gentleman who presented him as Leonard Hastings. Frankly, it has been somewhat unsettling. The first one was implying that something was wrong with the mental institution he was somehow related to:

Please, release immediately.

UNDISCLOSED LOCATION - June 4, 2010. The following tape was found at a
confidential archive and has been painstakingly restored. It proves
beyond doubt that what happened at the Hanwell Mental Institute is
true. This is only a very small glimpse of the atrocities committed
there. I can show you more...

I beg you to refrain from contacting me as I have put myself in great
danger already. Thank you, and spread the word.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNkUcXPr8BY&fmt=22

I found it especially unsettling that someone from a mental institution has somehow gotten hold of my email address - and what more? The second email that arrived soon after was equally unnerving in tone:

Please... release it now.

UNDISCLOSED LOCATION - June 11, 2010. The second part of the recovered
tape is made available. It gets much worse from now on. I’m not sure
if I should show you the rest... Is this enough to convince you that
the rumors about Hanwell Mental Institute are real? Look closely and
pay attention: this is what they did to my friend. They did it to me
as well. And you.

I may not be able to continue with this. You should spread the word.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2p7OBfgTRGw&fmt=22

The final one was clearly showing that the poor soul writing to me was losing grip on reality:

Dear friend...

I write this letter to you under a great deal of pressure. I have been hiding in the shadows, trying to tell to you the truth, but they found about it and now they are coming for me. The last recording that I recovered is now available and nothing was the same after it... Bertrand was the first and then came many others. Including myself...

You have to come to the Hanwell Mental Institute. I know this is happening to you as well... If you are not convinced yet, please, I beg you to watch the final session: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vn0PDYOOaMw&fmt=22

This is the last you will hear from me...

-Lenny

Fortunately, the head director of the aforementioned institution was kind enough to provide a word of explanation:

This article is for immediate publication.

Dear Sirs,

I am writing this public letter on behalf of the Hanwell Mental Institute, in the hope that it will clarify a distressing and misleading situation that came to light at the beginning of June. A person by the name of "Leonard Huntings" has been offering a series of video recordings and attempting to pass them as actual archive material from the institute. The Internet website in question that I am referring to is located at http://www.youtube.com/user/lhuntings

We claim absolutely no connection to these outrageous videos. More so, we suspect this "Leonard Huntings" is a nickname used by the perpetrator, who has not the courage to use his real name. We never admitted patients by the names of Leonard Huntings or Bertrand Laroche, who seems to be subject of the videos. Thus, we are dismissing this stunt as nothing else than juvenile efforts to tarnish the good image of our institute. Authorities have been alerted and I trust the aforementioned Internet website will be disabled shortly.

I sincerely thank you for your time and I'm truly sorry to see you being bothered by this childish event.

Yours Truly,
Dr. Andrew H. Miller
Head Director
http://www.Hanwell.org
andrew.miller@hanwell.org

I am glad to have received dementi on the part the institution whose credibility and good name was being questioned. It seems that the letter were some kind of internet prank, nothing really serious or disturbing. Ah, the kids these days.

I will definitely be sleeping better, knowing there is nothing wrong happening. After all, if we can't trust governmental institutions and their officials, then whom?