Mudslinger Katie Hopkins slips on her own muck

Libelling food blogger Jack Monroe was an expensive mistake for columnist Katie Hopkins.

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Katie Hopkins: a vitriolic rent-a-gob with a £24,000 bill
(Image credit: Copyright (c) 2015 Rex Features. No use without permission.)

"I learned long ago neverto wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it," said George Bernard Shaw. Sometimes, though, the fight is worth it. The Daily Mail columnist Katie Hopkins has lost a libel suit against the blogger Jack Monroe. Two years ago Hopkins mistakenly claimed that Monroe had approved of someone vandalising a war memorial during a protest. After her error was pointed out to her, Hopkins then "obstinately refused to apologise, instead conducting her defence by slinging as much mud as she could", as Monroe's lawyer Mark Lewis put it. As a result she has been ordered to pay £24,000 in damages, plus substantial legal bills.

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