Andrew Mitchell loses Plebgate libel case
A high court judge has said he is satisfied that former Tory chief whip Andrew Mitchell did call police officers ‘plebs’ in a row which sparked the infamous ‘Plebgate’ scandal.
Andrew Mitchell did call the officers 'fucking plebs'
Mr Justice Mitting ruled on the balance of probabilities that Mr Mitchell did indeed call the officers 'fucking plebs' at the gates of Downing Street in December 2012.
Mitting said: “For the reasons given I am satisfied at least on the balance of probabilities that Mr Mitchell did speak the words alleged or something so close to them as to amount to the same including the politically toxic word pleb."
The judge added that Mitchell’s account was “inconsistent” with him admitting to using bad language but not to saying ‘pleb’.
As a result of the ruling, Mitchell has lost the libel action he launched against News UK, owner of the Sun which accused the former chief whip of calling PC Toby Rowland a ‘pleb’ in 2012 in a front page splash. The Sun stood by its story using an official police report to back the claims.
Mitchell launched the doomed lawsuit in March 2013 accusing the newspaper of a “campaign of vilification” against him.
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