Andrew Mitchell's reputation 'substantially damaged'
Former government chief whip Andrew Mitchell has lost his High Court libel action over the "plebgate" incident.
The BBC's legal correspondent Clive Coleman said the ruling was an "absolutely devastating judgement" in what was "financially and reputationally an extremely bleak day for Andrew Mitchell".
Mr Mitchell had "staked his reputation" when he sued News Group Newspapers over a story that appeared in the Sun in September 2012, which claimed he called PC Toby Rowland a "pleb".
Mr Mitchell acknowledged that, while he had used bad language, he had not used that word. However, Mr Justice Mitting said he was satisfied that the MP probably did say the word "pleb".
27 Nov 2014