Graham Linehan threw away trans woman’s phone after she challenged him over ‘vindictive’ tweets, court hears: Live updates

The court heard Ms Brooks was inside a conference called the Battle of Ideas in Westminster in October last year but was kicked out after she started taking pictures of the guest panel.

Ms Brooks said she later saw Linehan approaching her from across the road on his way into the building.

Mr Linehan crossed the street with his phone recording and he called me a groomer and stated that I groomed kids. Sorry, he asked me how many kids I’d groomed.

The prosecutor asked: ‘Had you said or done anything towards him?’

Ms Brooks said she saw Linehan again later and asked him why he thought it was acceptable to call teenagers a ‘domestic terrorist’.

Linehan called her a groomer and told her to go away, Ms Brooks said. She said she felt ‘distressed’ because she is not a groomer.

Ms Brooks said she had never used the name ‘Tarquin’, a name used by Linehan to refer to the alleged victim.

The prosecutor asked: ‘How did the name come about?

Ms Brooks replied: ‘It is apparently to do with my poshness.

The prosecutor asked: ‘Is that a name you have used for yourself online?

Ms Brooks replied: ‘No.’

The prosecutor asked: ‘Who used that name online to describe you?’

Mr Brooks replied: ‘Graham Linehan.’

Bespectacled Ms Brooks denied allegations of homophobia from Linehan.

Asked by the prosecutor if she was homophobic, she replied: ‘No, I am a bisexual person.’

Ms Brooks said she understood descriptions about a ‘deeply disturbed sociopath’ and being a ‘domestic terrorist’ in posts by Linehan made her felt ‘alarmed and distressed.’

She said she was branded these things ‘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’.

Ms Brooks has told the court she attended an LGB Alliance event at the QEII conference centre in Westminster on October 11 last year – eight days before the encounter with Graham Linehan.

The LGB Alliance says it ‘promotes the rights of lesbians, bisexuals and gay men, as recognised by biological sex’.

When the group was made a charity in 2021, several furious trans rights groups appealed the decision.

Ms Brooks said she did not agree with the organisation and did not go inside the venue where the court heard insects had been released.

Ms Brooks said she was not involved, telling the court, ‘I had no prior knowledge of this’.

She told the court she disagreed with the LGB Alliance, and added: ‘I believe that the LGB alliance opposes my rights as a transgender person.’

She said she had never met or contacted Linehan before the event.

Ms Brooks entered the witness box shortly before 11.30am.

Wearing a blue shirt, and with her long dark hair worn long, she spoke clearly to state she had used the name ‘Sophia’ since about 2021 or 2022.

She said her identity documents also carried the name Sophia Abigail Brooks and that she was a student, although she was not asked by the court to state the course or the institution she is studying at.

Linehan was interviewed under caution on February 5 this year and gave officers a prepared statement.

The prosecutor said that in summary, Linehan considered the complainant, who he referred to as Tarquin, had harassed him by approaching him and ‘filming him at close quarters’.

The court heard Linehan claimed he tried to ignore the compliant, but the complainant approached him and made a ‘provocative statement’.

He told police that throwing the phone was a ‘reflex response’.

He said the posts ‘did not amount to harassment’, and describing himself as a journalist, wanted to expose the ‘tactics’ of trans activists.

The prosecutor said that in ‘one of several posts mocking he gender identity’, someone else posted a redacted copy of Ms Brooks’ driving licence, which referred to ‘Sophia’.

The court heard Linehan wrote:

That couldn’t be Tarquin cos he’s a bloke and that’s a girl’s name.

If you encounter Tarquin in the wild, try to resist the urge to stick his cameras up his a***.

This prompted a rippled of laughter from some in the public gallery. The prosecutor said Ms Brooks ‘felt alarmed or distressed’ as a result.

The court heard Linehan said to Ms Brooks: ‘Go away groomer, go away you disgusting incel’, understood to be a reference to ‘involuntarily celibate’.

The prosecutor said: ‘Still outside the venue, Ms Brooks approached him while filming and asked: “Why do you think it’s acceptable to call teenagers domestic terrorists?”

‘She was not committing any crime or causing any physical threat.

‘He didn’t answer the question, he didn’t explain why he called her a domestic terrorist, but was angry and he deliberately whacked the phone out of Ms Brooks’ hand. This caused damage to the phone.’

The prosecutor said Linehan was ‘clearly proud’ of what he had done because he tweeted: ‘I’m quite proud that I grabbed his phone and threw it across the road. He was furious’.

The court heard Linehan referred to Ms Brooks as ‘Tarquin’ on social media and referred to her as a ‘malignant narcissist’ and an ‘absolute psycho’.

Prosecutor Ms Faure Walker said the pair met for the first time in person outside the Battle of Ideas conference on October 19 last year.

Ms Brooks had been inside and was videoing but was escorted out at about 3.15pm.

While filming on her phone, Miss Brooks called out Linehan’s name and asked why he called her a ‘domestic terrorist’, the court heard.

The prosecutor said: ‘At this point Mr Linehan could have explained why he called her a domestic terrorist, if he had an explanation or even ignored her.

‘Rather, he responded in a way which is indicative of his extreme personal animosity towards her.’

Prosecutor Julia Faure Walker accused Linehan of being ‘relentless’ in his tweets about Ms Brooks, someone he had never met or interacted with.

Ms Brooks, who is now 18, was constantly referred to using the male pronouns by Linehan, the prosecutor told the court.

These posts were not merely irritating or annoying. These posts were not provoked by anything she (Ms Brooks) did to Mr Linehan. She was not even in contact when he began to post about her.

They were not based on her personal experience, they had not even met when the posts started. The purpose of these posts, say the prosecution, was not merely to relay events, to express political opinion, to criticise or to solve any crime.

Rather, they were verbally abusive and vindictive and reflected, say the prosecution, Mr Linehan’s deep disliking of Miss Brooks.

The case has resumed after the technical delays.

The court is told the prosecution will refer to the claimant using female pronouns, while the defendant, if he gives evidence, will use the masculine pronouns.

The judge said the language may ‘cause offence’ and upset people in the public gallery, but warned they would be ejected if they caused a disturbance.

Proceedings have been further delayed at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.

Technical problems are preventing video footage intended to be used in the trial from being broadcast to those watching remotely.

The district judge has adjourned again for a few minutes to see if court staff can get to the bottom of it.

Linehan has been fiddling with a hearing loop during the last few minutes, a device which enables him to hear amplified court proceedings better.

Meanwhile pretty much every seat in the public gallery has now been taken.

As we wait for proceedings in Westminster to resume, here’s the Daily Mail’s Editor-at-Large Richard Kay’s piece on Graham Linehan and the campaign against him which resulted in his career derailing.

Read Richard’s piece here:

The case has begun. Linehan confirms his name, address and date of birth and is now sitting in the dock and is charged on two counts.

But the court is told there will be some delays so that the prosecutor can speak with the alleged victim.

The court hears there are two witnesses for the prosecution, and five for the defence – three of whom can only attend tomorrow.

The case is not expected to resume until around 10.30am.

The trial is about to get underway. Court number one is packed with journalists, and there are around 20 people in the public gallery.

Linehan smiled and waved to some supporters as he entered the court.

The prosecutor is Julia Faure Walker, while Sarah Vine KC is defending. The case is being heard by district judge Briony Clarke.

Free speech and women’s rights activists have gathered outside Westminster Magistrates’ Court this morning in support of Graham Linehan.

Former GB Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies and Lord Toby Young are among high-profile supporters who are publicly backing the 57-year-old comedy writer.

Nigel Farage criticises Graham Linehan’s arrest on Fox News

Nigel Farage claimed US tech chiefs could face arrest when entering the UK as he criticised the treatment by police of Graham Linehan.

Speaking of the Irish writer’s arrest, the Reform UK leader told the US House Judiciary Committee:

He put out some tweets months ago when he was in Arizona, and months later he arrives at Heathrow Airport to be met by five armed police…

This could happen to any American man or woman that goes to Heathrow that has said things online that the British Government and British police don’t like. It is a potentially big threat to tech bosses, to many, many others.

At what point did we become North Korea? Well, I think the Irish comedy writer found that out two days ago at Heathrow Airport.

Writing in today’s Daily Mail, Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch said Mr Linehan’s arrest showed ‘values of free speech are being slowly eroded by people weaponising the law and using it for petty squabbling’.

Five police officers should not be sent to silence a comedian for saying what most people believe, no matter who is complaining.

The whole episode raises serious questions. What does it say about our country that someone can be flagged as they fly home from the US, not for terrorism, trafficking or fraud, but for expressing opinions online?

Read her comment piece in full below:

Here is the moment Graham Linehan arrived at Westminster Magistrates’ Court where he is due to face trial accused of harassing a transgender activist.

Before entering the court, he 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’.

Linehan’s arrest this week has splashed the newspaper front pages and sparked a debate over Britain’s free speech laws.

Harry Potter author JK Rowling is among those who have criticised the arrest while free speech campaigner and former police officer Harry Miller, who won a landmark court case against a force that investigated him for allegedly transphobic tweets, told the Daily Mail it was behaviour expected in North Korea.

But the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said his officers are in ‘an impossible position’ when dealing with online statements.

Sir Mark has called for a change in the law so action on social media abuse is only taken ‘where there is a clear risk of harm or disorder’.

When it was raised during Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday, Sir Keir Starmer said the police must focus on issues that matter most to the public

Returning to Britain ahead of his trial, Linehan was arrested Monday at Heathrow Airport by police following a series of comments posted on X earlier this year

The Irishman, who was travelling on an American Airlines flight from Arizona to London, claims he was treated like a ‘terrorist’ after being detained as soon as he stepped off the plane.

He said he was then escorted to a private area of the airport where he was told he was ‘under arrest for three tweets’. The Met Police later confirmed the 57-year-old was arrested on suspicion of inciting violence ‘in relation to posts on X’.

One 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.’

The second Tweet Linehan was arrested for showed an aerial shot of a group of protesters gathered in a town centre and captured it ‘a photo you can smell’.

In the third he said: ‘I hate them. Misogynists and homophobes. F*** em.’

Writing on his Substack page, Linehan said when he first saw officers approach him on the plane, he laughed and told them: ‘Don’t tell me. You’ve been sent by trans activists.’

Following his arrest, Linehan claimed he was taken to A&E ‘because the stress nearly killed me’, adding that his blood pressure was recorded at over 200mmHg by a nurse.

Linehan’s trial centres around the alleged harassment of transgender activist Sophia Brooks on social media and a further charge of damaging her phone.

Earlier this year, the Irish comedy writer said the allegations were related to an incident at the Battle of Ideas conference in London on October 19.

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

In May, Linehan pleaded not guilty to the allegations earlier this year at the same court where he was joined by supporters outside the courtroom. 

Linehan had arrived that day wearing a white t-shirt with a Daily Telegraph front page on it which read ‘trans women are not women’ following the Supreme Court ruling that stated the term ‘women’ related to biological sex.

Graham Linehan celebrates an award at the International Emmys in 2008

Father Ted creator Graham Linehan appears at court later accused of harassing a transgender woman – just days after he was dramatically arrested by five armed police officers at Heathrow Airport over a series of ‘anti-trans’ tweets.

The Bafta’s winning writer’s successful career was derailed in recent years after becoming a vocal critic in the trans rights movement.

The comic, who also created The IT Crowd and Black Books, has continued to speak out on social media about trans-identified men in female-only spaces.

And as a result of a series of comments made on X, he was arrested on Monday at Heathrow Airport by five armed police officers.

Linehan, who was travelling on an American Airlines flight from Arizona to London, claims he was treated like a ‘terrorist’ after being detained as soon as he stepped off the plane.

He said he was then escorted to a private area of the airport where he was told he was ‘under arrest for three tweets’.

The Met Police later confirmed the 57-year-old was arrested on suspicion of inciting violence at around 1pm yesterday ‘in relation to posts on X’.

Graham Linehan arrived at Westminster Magistrates’ Court shortly before the doors opened at 9am.

He smiled and posed for photographers, wearing a grey suit and a white shirt. The comedy writer held aloft a placard which read ‘Keep men out of women’s sports’.

Supporters, including Lord Young from the Free Speech Union, were present.

He told one supporter, in an apparent reference to his Heathrow arrest on another matter earlier this week: ‘I would have enjoyed the arrest a bit more if I knew what was happening.’

Graham Linehan outside Westminster Magistrates’ Court this morning

Good morning and welcome to the Daily Mail’s live coverage as Father Ted co-creator Graham Linehan faces trial following allegations he harassed a transgender woman.

The 57-year-old comedy writer has denied one charge of harassing trans activist Sophia Brooks on social media and a further charge of damaging her mobile phone in October.

His appearance at Westminster Magistrates’ Court comes days after his arrest at Heathrow Airport on Monday on suspicion of inciting violence in three posts he had made on X about trans issues.

The arrest has sparked a fierce debate about free speech in the UK with Kemi Badenoch today claiming it is being ‘slowly eroded by people weaponising the law’.

Stick with us as we provide live updates from Westminster Magistrates Court.