Graham Linehan ‘relentlessly’ harassed trans activist, court told

Father Ted co-creator Graham Linehan “relentlessly” posted abusive comments about a teenage transgender campaigner on social media before throwing her phone in a road, a court has been told.

The Irish writer is on trial in London on charges of harassment and criminal damage. He has pleaded not guilty.

Westminster Magistrates’ Court was told that the 57-year-old used social media to publish a series of “abusive and vindictive” posts about Sophia Brooks, 18.

Mr Linehan told police it did not amount to harassment. He also said exposing the tactics of trans activists was in the public interest, and that knocking the phone was a “reflex response”, the court heard.

This trial is not connected to the allegations that led to his much-publicised arrest at Heathrow Airport on Monday.

He said he was met by five armed officers over messages he had previously posted about trans people on X, sparking a backlash from some public figures and politicians, and inflaming a fierce debate about policing and free speech.

In that case, he was arrested on suspicion of inciting violence, and has been bailed “pending further investigation”.

Meanwhile, the trial that opened on Thursday is hearing allegations that he harassed Ms Brooks on social media last October before damaging her phone when she tried to confront him outside a conference.

The prosecution, led by Julia Faure Walker, said Mr Linehan posted a string of tweets targeting Ms Brooks and accusing her of a “homophobic attack” by being involved in disruption of an LGB Alliance conference on 11 October 2024 when thousands of live crickets were released.

His posts included calling the complainant – whom he referred to as Tarquin – a “deeply disturbed sociopath” and a “domestic terrorist”, the court heard.

The messages were “not merely irritating or annoying, but rather oppressive and unacceptable, thereby crossing the threshold into harassment”, Ms Faure Walker said.

On October 13, Linehan posted a claim that the activist was “behind countless episodes of harassment of women and gay men both online and off”, and that “he is a deeply disturbed sociopath and I believe he had some involvement in Friday’s homophobic attack”.

Ms Brooks told the court the LGB Alliance was a “hate group” that had “advocated for the eradication of trans rights”, but the prosecution said the activist “wasn’t even inside the venue and there is no evidence she was involved”.

Giving evidence, Ms Brooks told the court she “felt alarmed and distressed” and was afraid for her safety following Mr Linehan’s posts.

“I was being branded as a deeply disturbed sociopath by a relatively famous person with over 500,000 followers – any of which could see Mr Linehan’s post and cause great harm to me,” she added.

The court also heard how the pair met at the Battle of Ideas conference eight days after the previous incident.

Ms Brooks said Mr Linehan approached her at the conference and called her a “groomer” and asked “how many kids” she’d groomed.

A few hours later, Ms Brooks called out to Mr Linehan outside the venue and asked why he had called her a “domestic terrorist”, the prosecution said.

The prosecution alleged that Mr Linehan “deliberately whacked” Ms Brooks’ phone out of her hand after she challenged him while filming.

A video played to the court appeared to show Mr Linehan grabbing the complainant’s phone.

The activist said: “He grabbed my hand and forcibly ripped my phone out of it and then took my phone behind his back and refused to give it to me.” He then threw it into the road, she said.

Mr Linehan’s lawyer, Sarah Vine KC, told her: “You spent that afternoon harassing women and then harassing Mr Linehan and you used your phone for the purposes of that.

“Whatever damage there was to your phone, you cannot possibly be sure that was the result of what Mr Linehan did.”

Prosecutors said the exchange included more insults that showed Mr Linehan’s “extreme personal animosity towards her”.

The court heard that Mr Linehan, who also created TV sitcoms The IT Crowd and Black Books, provided a prepared statement when he was interviewed under caution on 5 February.

Ms Faure Walker said: “He said, in summary, that he considered that the complainant – whom he referred to as Tarquin throughout the prepared statement – had harassed him by approaching him and filming him at close quarters.

“He said he tried to ignore the complainant, the complainant provoked him and made a provocative statement, put the phone in his face, he grabbed the phone and threw it to the side, it was a reflex response.

“In relation to the online posts, the defendant did not accept it amounted to harassment. As a journalist – as he described himself – he believed exposing tactics of trans activities was in the public interest.”

District Judge Briony Clarke said the prosecution addressed the complainant according to their “affirmed gender name”, while the defendant’s position was that the “complainant is male”.

The trial continues.