The storm surrounding the Mail on Sunday’s scoop about the country’s first Youth Police and Crime Commissioner began during a live interview on BBC Breakfast.

Kent PCC Ann Barnes, keen to show off her new invention, was asked whether a teenager with a criminal record could have been handed the £15,000pa role. She wriggled a little. Minor crimes wouldn’t have been a barrier, she said. “But Paris is as white as the driven snow.”

It was an open invitation. Paris Brown, 17, was thrown to the wolves by her own boss.

The only surprise about what followed was how easy it was. No unscrupulous rogue reporters had to offer cash to greedy ex-boyfriends, no bins had to be rummaged through, no secret pictures taken. Miss Brown had published everything the Mail on Sunday needed, all by herself.

For all the criticism the Mail has received in some quarters (including from me – more later) it cannot be denied that this was a big story. Questions remain about the appointment process, about the rush to put Miss Brown in front of the TV cameras, and about the advice she received on handling media scrutiny.

That Mrs Barnes has adopted a more attacking stance today may be a sign that she realises, too late, how many of these questions land on her desk.

If this had been my story, I would have joined the Mail on Sunday – and others – in publishing tweets that made ignorant and inelegant reference to “pikeys”, “faggots”, “hash cakes” etc. They all ask important questions about her suitability for the role, and the handling of her appointment (along with the media circus that accompanied it) by people who should have known better.

What bothered me about the Mail on Sunday’s report was this tweet:

“Worst part about being single is coming home from a party/night out horny as **** and having to sleep alone. BAD TIMES.”

I need someone from the Mail to explain to me why this particular comment was plucked from an account, now deleted, which presumably contained hundreds of posts. Did a reporter or editor think that this comment proves Miss Brown is unfit for public office? Try as I might, all I see here is a particularly nasty attempt to stain her character.

Would this tweet have been selected for publication if the YPCC had been male? I doubt it.

This is a story tainted at every level by hypocrisy. None of it is worse than a national newspaper claiming that it can fight bigotry with misogyny.