Cases of poetry plagiarism have been rocking the British poetry scene since 2013. The main detective of these crimes – the popularly dubbed ‘poetry sleuth’ is Dr Ira Lightman.

His fans (I am one of them) have jokingly suggested that he deserves a knighthood for the good work he has been doing for the poetry community – bringing crimes of theft to light. But Lightman has not come out completely unscathed. As a literary vigilante of sorts, his critics see something a bit too hard-nosed, a bit too relentless and dogged in his actions. They see him as the leader of mobs that proceed to dance on the graves of disgraced poets. And it is true that on Facebook where these instances of plagiarism have been largely discussed, there has indeed been something of a mob mentality, a self-righteousness and a venting that can go on for a post too…