A legal case against Graham Linehan by a trans activist had been brought “in the service of political point-scoring”, the Father Ted creator’s lawyer claimed as he was cleared of harassment.
Linehan was found not guilty of harassing the transgender campaigner Sophia Brooks at Westminster magistrates’ court on Tuesday but was convicted of causing criminal damage to her phone.
The verdict came as it was revealed by his barrister Sarah Vine KC that “the genesis” of the allegations against Linehan was with a disgraced police officer turned transgender activist, Lynsay Watson. Vine said the Crown Prosecution Service confirmed that Watson was behind the complaint that resulted in Linehan being arrested by five police officers when he disembarked a flight at Heathrow in September.
The comedy writer, 57, was appearing at Westminster magistrates’ over allegations he had waged a social media campaign against Brooks between October 11 and October 27, 2024. He posted about her more than 20 times on the social media platform X in which he used terms such as “sociopath”, “psycho”, “domestic terrorist” and “groomer”, the court heard.
Linehan was further alleged to have thrown Brooks’s phone on the floor after a confrontation between the two outside the Battle of Ideas conference in central London on October 19 last year. Brooks, 18, approached Linehan while filming at the event and asked: “Why do you think it is acceptable to call teenagers domestic terrorists?” After a row, video footage presented to the court showed Linehan grabbing the complainant’s phone.
Linehan denied the charges of harassment and criminal damage brought against him.
Graham Linehan arrives at Westminster magistrates’ court
JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Separately, while travelling to London to attend the first court hearing from his new home in the US state of Arizona, Linehan had been arrested on arrival at Heathrow by five armed officers on suspicion of inciting violence. His arrest in early September had been in relation to three gender-critical messages posted on X criticising unnamed trans activists. One of the posts from April 20 said: “If a trans-identified male is in a female-only space, he is committing a violent, abusive act. Make a scene, call the cops and, if all else fails, punch him in the balls.” Linehan claimed that rather than inciting violence, he was making a “bad joke” in his suggestion about punching a trans woman if they were in female-only spaces.
After the verdict on Tuesday, in submissions relating to an application by Brooks’s legal team for a restraining order to be imposed on the writer, his lawyer identified Watson as being the main complainant behind the allegations against Linehan.
She said: “Graham is a journalist. His journalism centres heavily on the conduct of trans activists, of which Ms Brooks is one. The background of this case involves provocative conduct by the complainant and the raising of allegations in the service of political point-scoring.
“The involvement of older, more experienced trans activists in this case is important. The genesis of the harassment complaint can be found with Lynsay Watson and was adopted by the complainant.
“The CPS confirmed that Lynsay Watson was involved in the high-profile arrest of Graham Linehan as he entered the country on a separate matter. The relevance of this is that a restraining order would create the risk of handing to those who may be inclined to misuse the criminal justice process a ‘further weapon’ to use against a high profile prize in future.”
Watson, a transgender police constable, was dismissed by Leicestershire police in 2023 for gross misconduct for sending abusive tweets to the free speech campaigner and fellow ex-police officer Harry Miller. She is known to have made a series of legal complaints against individuals who express gender-critical views. Watson has also instigated court actions against institutions including the British Transport Police Federation, Greater Manchester police, Leicestershire police and police appeals tribunals.
In a statement given after the court verdict Linehan spoke of how he was “proud” to have stood up to “dangerous men” who bully women. “The judge found me and the women who gave evidence on my behalf to be credible, honest witnesses and said that my actions were not criminal and did not constitute harassment,” he said. “The judge commented that the complainant, a well-known trans activist, was not truthful. There are a group of dangerous men who are determined to bully women and girls, and to misuse the courts and police in furtherance of a misogynistic agenda. I’m proud to have stood up to them and I will continue to do so.”
Reading a summary of her 31-page judgment, District Judge Briony Clarke said it was important for the court not to “pick a side” in the matter of a public debate.
She concluded that Linehan was a “credible” witness and while his comments on social media were “deeply unpleasant, insulting and even unnecessary”, they did not amount to harassment by crossing the boundary from “regrettable to unacceptable”. District Judge Clarke continued: “I do not find the complainant was as alarmed and distressed as they portrayed themselves to be.”
But the judge found Linehan had taken Brooks’s phone because he was “angry and fed up” and had damaged it by knocking it to the ground. “The defendant intentionally threw the phone and I am sure that the defendant must have appreciated the risk of damage to the phone when he threw it on the floor and did it anyway and therefore I am satisfied that he was reckless,” she said.
The sitcom writer, who is behind the hit shows Black Books and The IT Crowd, was ordered to pay £1,350 by the court including costs and a surcharge, but he is expected to appeal against his criminal damage conviction.
