Graham Linehan goes on trial over alleged harassment of trans woman

Father Ted co-creator Graham Linehan has gone on trial in London on charges of harassment and criminal damage against a transgender woman.

Westminster Magistrates' Court was told the 57-year-old allegedly used social media to "relentlessly" publish offensive posts about an 18-year-old trans campaigner.

The Irish comedy writer, who also created The IT Crowd and Black Books, has pleaded not guilty to the two charges.

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 Sophia Brooks, 18, a transgender activist, on social media last October, and damaged her phone.

The prosecution, led by Julia Faure Walker, said Mr Linehan posted a string of tweets targeting Ms Brooks, which included calling her a "deeply disturbed sociopath" and a "domestic terrorist".

The posts were "not merely irritating or annoying, but rather oppressive and unacceptable, thereby crossing the threshold into harassment", and were "verbally abusive and vindictive", Ms Faure Walker said.

The court heard how the pair met at the Battle of Ideas conference on 19 October 2024. The prosecution alleged that Mr Linehan "deliberately whacked" Ms Brooks' phone out of her hand after she challenged him over his tweets while filming.

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.

Ms Brooks said Mr Linehan approached her at the Battle of Ideas 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.

He responded with more insults that showed "his extreme personal animosity towards her", Ms Faure Walker told the court.

Ms Brooks asked him to "account for his defamatory and abusive posts about her", the prosecutor said, but he did not answer, and knocked the phone out of her hand, the court heard.

The court heard that Linehan 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."

The trial continues.