Twitter mob maul author who mocked student deaths

Novellist and Guardian columnist Kia Abdullah has felt the full force of Twitter's fury after gloating over the deaths of three English gap year students, who were killed in a bus crash in Thailand.

After reading about the deaths of teenagers Bruno Melling-Firth, Max Boomgaarden-Cook and Conrad Quashie, Abdullah posted what was described as a "suicide note" on the social networking site. She commented: "Is it really awful that I don't feel sympathy for anyone killed on a gap yaar? That's awful, right? Yes, I'm a terrible person."

It didn't take long for other users to take note of her comment - and to declare themselves appalled. Yet Abdullah, who has written dozens of articles on the Guardian opinion website Comment is Free, appeared unconcerned. When fellow author and Times journalist Sathnam Sanghera suggested she was "taking the class war too far" Abdullah carried on digging.

She replied: "I actually smiled when I saw that they had double-barrelled surnames. Sociopathic?"

As the reaction against her grew more vociferous Abdullah mounted an unconvincing climbdown, admitting she should have kept her thoughts to herself, but not apologising.

Meanwhile influential tweeters like Times columnist Janice Turner, aka Victoria Peckham, were getting involved. She described Abdullah as "a disgusting woman" and said her comment was "the most disgusting thing I've ever read on Twitter".

She and political blogger Guido Fawkes also pointed out that the three dead boys had all been educated at a south London state school, so were not as well-to-do as Abdullah had implied.

As the vitriol poured in, Abdullah apologised, saying: "What I said
was very stupid and very heartless and I really should know better. I'm sorry."

Others were still shocked that she had even posted the comment. Twitter-user Brownbare said: "What an odd thing to say on a public forum that is known for mass lynching in a split second!"

Abdullah, who once said that she liked to "operate a 'no regrets'
policy", is now facing a twitter campaign to see her banned from the Guardian's website.

On her own website, underneath an array of pictures of her in evening wear, she states: "My attitude towards promotion is rather naive... I have this romantic view that writers should be read but neither seen nor heard."

However if she takes the view that all publicity is good publicity, then the storm may have some benefits. Her "sexual thriller" Child's Play is currently languishing in 486,555th place on Amazon bestseller list. It could use a boost. ·