Allison Pearson, a journalist for The Telegraph, has reached a settlement with Essex’s police and crime commissioner Roger Hirst after suing him for defamation. The agreement includes a public apology and a payment understood to be in the five-figure range.

The dispute arose following a November 2024 incident in which Essex police officers visited Pearson at her home over a post on the social media platform X, previously known as Twitter. The police alleged that her post incited racial hatred. The subsequent investigation was dropped with no further action taken. However, Hirst made public comments about the case, which a High Court judge later found to be potentially defamatory.

Mr Justice Chamberlain ruled that statements made by Hirst, both during an interview with LBC and in an article published on his website, were capable of damaging Pearson’s reputation. In his statement of apology, Hirst acknowledged that his remarks had caused Pearson “damage and hurt” and expressed regret for having made personal allegations against her. He explained that his intentions had been to discuss broader issues around hate crime and policing rather than target Pearson directly.

The legal proceedings stemmed from a wider national debate over policing of alleged hate crimes and non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs) on social media. In response to criticism that such investigations distracted officers from frontline duties, Labour has since abolished NCHIs in their existing form.

Pearson was visited on Remembrance Sunday 2024 after the police received complaints about her social media post. At the time, the force released several statements presenting its version of events. The judge found two of those police statements, along with Hirst’s subsequent remarks, met the threshold for defamation.

Essex Police had also lodged a complaint with the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) over Pearson’s reporting of the visit, disputing her claim that the matter was treated as a non-crime hate incident. IPSO ultimately rejected the complaint, finding that The Telegraph had sufficiently verified the facts prior to publication.

Pearson described the resolution as “delighted and relieved” and called Hirst’s earlier comments “deeply distressing.” She criticized the practice of targeting thousands of individuals annually over social media posts, often on the basis of unsubstantiated claims of offense or hatred. Pearson argued such policing risks creating a “two-tier political policing” environment that affects those with dissenting viewpoints.

Separately, Pearson continues to pursue a defamation claim against Essex Police itself, which remains ongoing and is also before Mr Justice Chamberlain.

Her solicitor, Mark Lewis of Patron Law, criticized the police commissioner for prioritizing protection of the police force over the public he represents, expressing hope that taxpayers would not be held financially responsible for the settlement.