BLOGGER Jacqui Thompson has been told that a charge for £190,000 will be put on her home today (Dec 2) at Carmarthenshire County Court.
Ms Thompson – who writes the Carmarthenshire Planning Problems blog – has to repay the council’s insurance excess of £190,390, which includes £62,765 to be repaid to the insurers.
The claim dates back to 2011. In June that year, Ms Thompson was arrested for trying to film a council meeting.
Later that year, Council Chief Executive Mark James posted comments on the Mad Axeman blog page, which Ms Thompson considered libellous.
She sued Mr James, but in March 2013 a High Court Judge dismissed her claim and honoured a counter-claim for libel from the council Chief Executive.
Ms Thompson was ordered to pay £25,000 in damages, as well as costs. An appeal in 2014 was unsuccessful.
Prior to the hearing today, supporters of Jacqui Thompson had turned up at County Hall to hand in a pound of flesh to CEO Mark James. Mr. James had already left the building and therefore staff were unable to accept the token on his behalf.
After the hearing Jacqui said: “In my view this was a pointless and wasteful vindictive exercise against a critic of the council and has nothing to do with any obligation to the tax payer.
“If it was then the council wouldn’t have funded the Chief Executive unlawfully in the way they did. This is about destruction. The charge is more than our home is worth and will never be realised.
“I will continue to fight and continue to blog. The next step will be to try and stop the Chief Executive’s attempt to force sale of our home another deeply vindictive and unnecessary action. I would like to thank all those who have supported me and sent messages of good will.”
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