The food writer and internet personality Jack Monroe is a bit of a ‘Marmite’ character. Some people adore her and believe that she is an authentic example of a struggling working class Briton. Others, myself included see something quite different. I for example see someone who came from parents who some would say were ‘working class royalty’ (nursing, army, fire brigade) due to the jobs they did and who didn’t exactly start out on the bottom rung of the ladder. I also see someone who is the middle class leftist’s idea of what a British working class person is like.
I’ve never particularly liked her or her shtick and some of her household help advice is down right dangerous, such as using a knife and a hammer to open a food tin. FFS I’ve had times in my life when I’ve been on my uppers but I can’t recall ever being without a tin opener and I can count on the fingers of one (bruised) hand the times when camping and I’ve forgotten to pack a tin opener and I’ve had to use a rock and a screwdriver to open a tin. It’s a damned insult to those who are struggling to present Monroe’s book as something that might be useful to them.
Jack Monroe also seems to have garnered a bit of a reputation for alleged grifting and using her own stated situation to solicit money from her online supporters but, and this is important to the story, not delivering whatever she was promising. Now we all screw up occasionally but Jack Monroe seems to screw up in this way quite a bit. However what is both interesting and concerning is how she allegedly treats those who have donated but had second thoughts and asked for their money back.
The Twitter user Legal Gengar is currently in dispute with Jack Monroe after contributing to one of her campaigns back in January of this year. I believe that the contribution might have been related to Jack Monroe’s appeal for funds relating to an abortive attempt to sue for libel Lee Anderson the Tory MP.
Legal Gengar’s side of the story makes for very interesting reading. He’s alleging all sorts of nastiness in his dealings with Ms Monroe including not just pile ons online by Jack Monroe’s fans, but also doxing of Legal Gengar’s personal details.
Here’s what Legal Gengar said about his dealings with Ms Monroe. Even if a fraction of the claims made in this Twitter thread are true then it certainly shows up Ms Monroe in a very bad light indeed.
Here’s the truth about my case. It’s going to be a long thread, sorry. There’s just so much to say.
1. I did sign up on 7th January 2023. I read the Guardian article on 8th January and sent her an email asking for a refund with my details. I never got a reply.
2. I did send her a DM from this account on 9th January 2023. It was not a very nice DM because I was so angry at how she’d taken us all for fools, and I am sorry I lost my temper and sent it.
3. I provided my name and address when I signed up for Patreon. I did not opt out of receiving anything, as that would be pretty silly when I expected to receive actual postcards. My Patreon details are the same as the ones on all of the claim form, the court order, the sworn affidavit, etc. and she has been in possession of them the entire time as far as I know.
4. I believed the postcards and other content (e.g. the discount code) would be sent to me every week, based on what the tier said. I have never received anything from her sent to my address, and there are no Patreon posts with the discount codes either, nor an online shop to use them on that I could find (the one I did find is down for maintenance).
5. It is open to her to have the CCJ set aside if she truly believes it should not have been awarded. This sends it back to the claim stage, where both sides then have to make their case in front of a judge or settle, etc. I have not received notice of any such application. The court will not set aside a CCJ without that application.
6. I have never claimed to be a long-term Patreon backer. I cannot be: I only signed up on 7th January 2023. She has misinterpreted what I meant by me supporting her, i.e. in the same way you might support your local football team but that doesn’t mean you actually give them anything, just that you support what they do.
7. As I understood the content to be sent out on a weekly basis, I gave her until the end of January before I filed my small claim case. During the small claim progression, she then had an additional 28 days to pay me £45 (£10 + £35 court costs) and the claim would have been settled without a CCJ being issued. She could also have paid me the £45 any time up until 28th March and the CCJ would not have been registered. I have waited and waited and waited for payment which could have been sent at any time.
8. She could have still paid me at any point up until today, and the CCJ would be marked as “satisfied” although the amount owed has gone up significantly since February.
9. She claims to have made at least 7 payment attempts. I have never received anything at the address I gave her on the claim form, the judgment, or the court orders where it clearly states you can send a postal order, a cheque, or cash to the address listed. The only time she’s ever even offered to pay was on Friday 2nd June 2023.
10. When she doxxed me on Friday 2nd June 2023, I rang her. I obtained her number from the process servers who served her the court order on Friday 26th May 2023. I did this because she has blocked me and I didn’t know what else to do, or how else to contact her urgently, to get her to take her horrible post down. I have never called her since, I have not shared the number with anyone, and I am certainly not going to doxx her.
11. On the phone, she offered to pay me. I accepted. She asked for my bank details and for me to email them to her. Given the circumstances, I pointed out that she could just send the money to the address on all of the paperwork. She then said that I would not get what I want from the hearing, and that she intended to turn up and force me to take money on the day so that the hearing wouldn’t go ahead. I then ended the call and notified the court of the doxxing.
12. Throughout this process, I have been pressured to simply accept the loss and walk away. Attempts have been made to intimidate me into not pursuing my legal rights. This has come from both her and various “anonymous” accounts on Twitter and via email to me.
13. On Friday 26th May 2023, she was personally served by my process servers at her home address. This was all sworn to by the server in an affidavit witnessed and stamped by a solicitor.
14. On Wednesday 14th June 2023 at 2pm, I went to Southend County Court, court room number 9. Members of the press and an independent observer were outside when I arrived. I have not contacted the press, it has since been made clear to me that other people on here did specifically so they would be there for the hearing. The independent observer followed me into the court building, and was there when the senior court officer came out, asked me who I was, and then went to look for the defendant. He said “We’ll give her 10 minutes to turn up”.
15. The officer then returned and stated that she had sent an email to the court that had “just arrived” and stated she would not be coming. He then took me into the court room to explain what would happen now. He mentioned that she had made allegations of harassment against me and I understood that to be why she was not attending. The contents of the email weren’t disclosed to me. 16. The non-appearance (a civil contempt) was referred to the Judge who was not present that day, but would be in the next. I was told I could submit a statement about the matter, and I have, to the Judge and that the Judge would consider appropriate next steps. I also sent copies of the Tweet where she claims the court advised her not to turn up. As I understand it, there will be a public hearing into the contempt matter, and it is probable that another private hearing will be rescheduled later on. I have not heard anything from the court yet.
17. As the contempt is a matter for the court to deal with, and the hearing was purely information gathering, not an enforcement process, I have been advised that I am still entitled to proceed with enforcement, i.e. bailiffs, etc. separately. I am considering what to do next.
18. I have never doxxed her. I have never shared her address publicly or her phone number with anyone. The only written correspondence sent to her address has been the claim form that the court sent to her, and the court order served on her. As stated above, I called her to end the doxxing and that was it.
19. Her DMs to me on Friday 2nd June 2023 are genuine—I have just seen them in my “other messages” inbox. It says I am still blocked though, so I can’t reply to them.
20. I have still not received my money. I do not want to share my bank details because I can’t trust that they won’t be posted on here publicly. I am happy (and have always been happy) to accept a cheque or postal order to my address for the full outstanding amount (inc. costs) which currently stands at £425.04.
21. Various press publications have been in touch with me about this entire matter, including the Daily Mail, the Guardian, Private Eye, the Telegraph, and smaller independent publications. I have yet to respond to them.
22. Ultimately, you should all be careful who you give money to online because you might not get what you pay for. I believe, based on the intimidation and harassment I have received over asserting my legal rights, and her attitude towards me about refunding what was a tiny amount (i.e. by ignoring me and then gaslighting me, and then doxxing, harassing, intimidating, and lying about me), that she felt she was entitled to keep my money because why would she not have just refunded me?
23. On a personal note, this entire process has and continues to take a huge toll on me. On the one hand, it feels surreal and ridiculous. On the other, I never thought simply asking for what I paid for would result in this, but I think it is an important principle: because based on what I have seen, I don’t think I’m the first person she’s ignored, and I feel sorry for people who don’t have their money back despite asking for it. Nobody should be allowed to steal money from others.
24. Evidence will be attached in this thread as a separate post. Replies will be locked until I have done that, and then replies will be opened, because I am not afraid to hear what you have to say and I don’t have a comments club. This isn’t the end, and I’m not going to quit until I get the £425.04 back. I have also not forgotten that she has repeatedly defamed me, but that’s another topic entirely.
Thread ends.
If Jack Monroe had just given this person back their money, then this might have all calmed down but Jack Monroe took the opposite route. Because she did not take what a lot of us would have seen as the appropriate route of returning the money she’s managed to garner herself a whole lot more scrutiny and a whole lot more criticism because of her decisions.
This is one of those cases where I think can’t they both lose? You sent her a tenner and then it dawned on you that you had been taken for a mug. It was a tenner, write it of and make a note to be a bit more diligent before you part with your cash next time. In even a modestly paid job it takes about an hour to earn a tenner, how much time have you spent trying to earn this one back?
I disagree here. Monroe has apparently and allegedly done the same to lots of other contributors to her causes. This person by bringing this case is merely making Monroe accountable for her claimed actions.
Taking one for the team so to speak. Yes I can see that is a valid position. Will the team appreciate his diligence and sacrifice though.
If it stops vulnerable people chucking their money at Monroe and it seemingly being not spent properly then it will be worth it. I think that for Legal Gengar the issue is one of principle rather than financial loss.