Journalist Allison Pearson has received an apology and “substantial damages” from the Essex police and crime commissioner after a High Court judge found accusations made against her could be defamatory.
Background of the case
The Daily Telegraph journalist brought legal action against commissioner Roger Hirst over statements he made in an LBC interview and an article on the Conservative Home website, which she alleges relate to a social media post she wrote. This led officers to investigate her for a potential offence of inciting racial hatred, knock on her door on Remembrance Sunday in November 2024, and invite her to be interviewed under caution.
In the interview on LBC, Mr Hirst, who did not comment on Ms Pearson’s case specifically, said: “We can’t go around ignoring crimes just because it’s politically sensitive, and we perhaps need to just think about how our black and Asian communities are hearing this debate.”
Court ruling
In April, Mr Justice Chamberlain ruled Mr Hirst’s words “did bear the meaning that, in the light of the complaint and the post itself, there were reasonable grounds to investigate Ms Pearson for the offence of inciting racial hatred”. Mr Hirst has apologised to Ms Pearson in a statement published earlier this month, adding he has agreed to pay her “substantial damages and costs” which is understood to be a five-figure sum, according to the Telegraph.
“I wish to apologise to Allison Pearson, the Daily Telegraph journalist, for accusations I made about her in an interview I gave to Lewis Goodall of LBC on 17 November 2024, and in an article I wrote for Conservative Home which I later published on my own website,” Mr Hirst said in a statement on his official website. “I intended to address wider issues about hate crimes and policing rather than to make accusations against her personally, but I accept, as the High Court has found that I did accuse her personally, I should not have made those allegations against her. I am very sorry for the damage and hurt I have caused to her, and I have agreed to pay her substantial damages and costs in recognition of that.”
Pearson's response
Ms Pearson told the Telegraph she was “delighted and relieved” to have won the case, adding that she found Mr Hirst’s statements “deeply distressing”. She also wrote in a post on X: “I’m happy and relieved to say I won my legal case against Essex Police and Crime Commissioner Roger Hirst. Mr Hirst has admitted liability, apologised and paid substantial damages.”
The journalist previously wrote about the 2024 police visit in a column for the newspaper. Essex Police published a statement which said officers visited “an address in Essex and invited a woman to come to a voluntary interview”. It was later updated to say that, following a review from the Crown Prosecution Service, no further action would be taken. Ms Pearson also lodged a separate defamation claim against Essex Police, which is ongoing.
