A 1010 WINS news anchor and his wife must pay $225,000 in legal fees for their failed New Jersey defamation case against their blogging Hoboken neighbors, the trial judge has ruled.

Lane Bajardi and his wife, freelance broadcast journalist Kim Cardinal, were slammed with the hefty penalty on Wednesday, along with some harsh words by Hudson Court Superior Court Judge Patrick Arre.

In suing two local bloggers for defamation, the couple utterly failed to prove any damage to either reputation or livelihood, the judge said in a written decision.

“The Court finds Plaintiffs must reimburse Defendants for the litigation costs of suing first and thinking later,” the judge wrote.

Throughout the case, the Bajardis misrepresented facts to their own lawyers and the court, the judge wrote, adding, “Plaintiffs’ conduct throughout this case at a minimum demonstrates bad faith, and approaches a fraud upon the Court.”

The Bajardis had claimed in their $2 million lawsuit that Hoboken zoning board member Nancy Pincus and another local blogger, Roman Brice, defamed them in posts to the Hoboken Patch and Grafixavenger.blogspot.com during 2011 and 2012.

Almost all of the alleged defamations had been tossed last year for being too old, or mere opinions or exaggerations.

The remaining four defamation counts — accusing the anchor of being anti-Semitic and conspiring to steal emails that had been sent to Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer — were dismissed by the judge at trial in February.

Cardinal said the couple plans to appeal.

“This case has always been about hatred and lies. My family has been under assault now for six years by members of one of the most powerful political machines in the country,” she said. “In Hoboken, Hudson County, if a person chooses to exercise his or her constitutional rights and petition their government, they surrender their civil rights and become targets for life.”

The decision was hailed by the defendants.

“For someone making their living on the First Amendment, it was astounding that Mr. Bajardi would take a dozen Hoboken residents to court for alleging harm — for their political speech,” Brice said after the decision.