Father Ted creator Linehan arrives at court for trans activist harassment trial

By Jordan Reynolds and Sam Hall, PA

Father Ted creator Graham Linehan has arrived at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in the UK where he faces trial accused of harassing transgender activist Sophia Brooks.

Before going into court, the 57-year-old comedy writer posed with a sign which said on one side “There’s no such thing as a ‘transgender child’”, and on the other it said “Keep men out of women’s sports”.

He has denied one count of harassing the activist on social media and a further charge of damaging her mobile phone in October.

Linehan, who created Father Ted in the 1990s with fellow Irish writer Arthur Mathews, said in a post on X in April that the allegations were related to an incident at the Battle of Ideas conference in London on October 19th.

According to court documents, he is charged with harassing the alleged victim by posting abusive comments about her on social media between October 11th and October 27th, and damaging her phone to the value of £369 on the day of the conference.

In May, following a hearing in the case, Linehan said he has “lost a great deal” but “will not waver in my resolve”.

The Bafta-winning writer, who also came up with TV sitcoms The IT Crowd and Black Books, was arrested at Heathrow Airport on Monday on suspicion of inciting violence in three posts he had made on X about trans issues.