The columnist and broadcaster Katie Hopkins has lodged an application to the Court of Appeal for permission to appeal against the judgment of Warby J ([2017] EWHC 433 (QB)) awarding damages of £24,000 to food blogger and writer Jack Monroe.
The background to the case can be found in our post here and in Nathan Capone’s comment on the judgment. Permission to appeal was refused last week by Warby J on the ground that the application was too late ([2017] EWHC 645 (QB)) – although it is most unusual for a judge to grant permission to appeal against his or her own decision.
The Grounds of Appeal and supporting Skeleton Argument have been made available on the David Price Solicitors and Advocates website.
In her Grounds of Appeal Ms Hopkins argues that the Judge was wrong in law for a number of reasons including the following:
(1) He was wrong to find that the tweets complained of had a defamatory tendency because right thinking people would not think the worse of Laurie Penny in consequence of her own tweets and as a result would not think worse of the Claimant for the opinion which the judge found was imputed to her.
(2) He was wrong to find that the tweets complained of had a tendency to cause serious harm to the Claimant’s reputation.
(3) As a result of his error of law the Judge in practice placed the burden on the Defendant to show that there was no harm to reputation.
These grounds are fully developed in a 16 page Skeleton Argument in support of the application for permission to appeal.
Ms Hopkins is being represented by Solicitor Advocate David Price QC (who has returned from sabbatical) and Jonathan Price.
A decision on the application for permission to appeal is unlikely to be made until after Easter.
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