Terry Prone: How plagiarist John Hughes doubled down on his own downfall

The novelist responded badly to being caught, capped by his complaint that it had all, you know, really ruined his week

John Hughes was revealed to have lifted large swathes of other people's work and first defended his actions, then said it was all a mistake, and ultimately complained the revelation had caused him a difficult week. File picture: Steve Bacon/Fairfax/Getty

You steal something from someone. You steal something that is uniquely theirs, that goes to the heart of the valence of their work. You sell it as yours. Oddly enough, you’re unlikely to evoke interest from the Director of Public Prosecutions and the person from whom you stole is most likely to shrug and regard you with mild pity rather than fury.

You don’t go to prison and you’re not forced to make it up to them. But you are destroyed, anyway. The firm that discovered your talent has to recall your product in much the same way grocery chains recall items riven with botulism. Those who publicly praised you are made to look like fools.