Food blogger Jack Monroe has begun legal proceedings against Katie Hopkins over a tweet about a damaged war memorial.
Lawyers for the two sides are in the High Court in London this week, almost two years after Hopkins publicly targeted Monroe on Twitter.
"@MsJackMonroe Scrawled on any memorials recently? Vandalised the memory of those who fought for your freedom. Grandma got any more medals?" posted Hopkins in May 2015.
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It came after a Whitehall memorial to the women of World War II was vandalised with the words "F*** Tory scum" during an anti-austerity demonstration, says The Guardian.
Hopkins's lawyer claims she had mistaken Monroe for Laurie Penny, a columnist for the New Statesman, who said at the time that she did not have a problem with the vandalism, arguing that "the bravery of past generations does not oblige us to be cowed today".
Monroe responded directly to Hopkins after the tweet: "I have NEVER 'scrawled on a memorial'. Brother in the RAF. Dad was a Para in the Falklands. You're a piece of s***."
Hopkins deleted the first tweet, but later posted another message, saying: "Can someone explain to me – in 10 words or less – the difference between irritant @PennyRed and social anthrax @MsJackMonroe."
Monroe's lawyers claim the "defamatory" tweets suggested the writer had defaced or condoned the damage to the war memorial, and this led to death threats from other tweeters.
William Bennett, acting for Monroe, told the judge, Mr Justice Warby: "A widely published allegation that someone has either vandalised a war memorial or approved of such an act will inevitably cause serious damage to reputation."
Monroe, an outspoken campaigner on poverty who writes the blog Cooking on a Bootstrap, is understood to be seeking £50,000 in damages.
Hopkins, who was not in court for the two-day hearing, which started yesterday, argues that "no lasting harm, and certainly no serious harm" has been caused to Monroe's reputation. Her lawyer said the proceedings were "an unnecessary and disproportionate epilogue to the parties' otherwise forgotten Twitter row".
