TV writer and activist Graham Linehan said he is “proud to have stood up to” trans activist after he was cleared in court of harassment but convicted of criminal damage.
Linehan, 57, stood trial for criminal damage and harassment after a fracas with trans teenager Sophia Brooks outside a women’s rights conference last October.
The writer of hit shows including Father Ted and Black Books was accused of sending abusive messages on social media site X about Ms Brooks before the conference, including calling her a “domestic terrorist”, and he was caught on camera branding her a “groomer” and an “incel”.
A series of clashes at the conference in Westminster culminated in him grabbing Ms Brooks’ phone and throwing it into the road.
At Westminster magistrates court on Tuesday, District Judge Briony Clarke cleared Linehan of harassment, finding Ms Brooks’ evidence had been “not entirely truthful”.
But she convicted him of criminal damage to the mobile phone, leading to a £500 fine.
Speaking outside court, Linehan focused on the acquittal on the harassment charge, telling reporters: “I'm very pleased by today's verdict.
“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.
“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.”
Linehan thanked supporters in the Free Speech Union, and added that he believes his trial was part of a campaign by trans activists.
“It's what (they) do”, he said. “We have a phrase - ‘the punishment is a process’. They like to put people through these kinds of experiences to make them frightened about standing up to them.
“But I'm hoping that with this judgment, people in the future will be subject to that kind of those kind of tactics.”
Asked if he has a message to Ms Brooks, Linehan called out: “Leave women alone.”
In her ruling, Judge Clarke said Linehan’s social media posts may have been “annoying” and were “deeply unpleasant, insulting and even unnecessary”, but they did not amount to “oppressive” conduct.
She said she did not believe Ms Brooks was “as alarmed and distressed as they portrayed themself to be”.
Turning to the criminal damage charge, the judge dismissed Linehan’s case that he had grabbed the handset and threw it away to prevent Ms Brooks committing a criminal offence, and said he could reasonably have known that it would be damaged.
He was “angry and fed up”, said the judge.
Judge Clarke sentenced Linehan to a £500 fine for the criminal damage, and concluded the incident was not a hate crime or based on hostility to Ms Brooks’ trans gender identity.
She said the crime was aggravated because Ms Brooks was 17-years-old at the time.
Linehan must pay costs of £650 and a court fee of £200, but did not order compensation as the damage phone had not been repaired. The judge also refused to make a restraining order.
Sarah Vine KC, representing Linehan, told the court she expects him to mount an appeal against his conviction.
At the outset of today’s court hearing, the judge insisted it was “not for this court to pick a side in any matters of public debate”, and acknowledged the ongoing trans rights public discourse.
During the trial, an agreement was struck on use of language, so that Linehan could refer to his accuser as ‘Mr’ and male, while Ms Brooks would refer to her trans identity and use female pronouns.
Linehan – a prominent anti-trans activist - had argued that the harassment charge against him should never have been brought to court. It was initially dropped by prosecutors, but was revived when trans activists mounted an appeal.
He bowed his head as the guilty verdict over criminal damage was delivered.
Ms Vine urged the judge not to impose a restraining order, saying: “Mr Linehan is a journalist, and his journalism centres heavily on the conduct of trans activists, of which Ms Brooks is one.”
She said he has faced “enormous” cost to his personal and professional life as a result of his activism.
Linehan was charged with harassment over X posts about Ms Brooks which were published before the conference at the Queen Elizabeth II centre in Westminster on October 19.
He called Ms Brooks - then 17 - “Tarquin”, branded her a “domestic terrorist” and a “sociopath” and repeatedly called her a “man”.
Ms Brooks told the court she feared a “vigilante” may act on the Tweets, by “possibly stabbing me in the street or beating me up”.
Prosecutor Julia Faure Walker argued Linehan had “mocked her gender identity”, and in one wrote: “Does anyone know this man?”
He also accused claimed she was one of a group of “very dangerous men”.
However Linehan told the court he had been attempting to “destroy” the anonymity of a trans activist who he claimed had been “abusive” online.
On the day of the conference, Ms Brooks attended and began filming speakers and audience members on her mobile phone.
Organisers attempted to intervene to stop the disruptive action, and eventually Ms Brooks was ejected from the conference.
Later in the day, Ms Brooks – while filming – approached Linehan and shouted questions at him.
The footage shows he called her a “groomer” and an “incel”, among other slurs.
As the conference was ending, Linehan came face-to-face again with Ms Brooks as he left the venue.
Linehan was said to have responded with “extreme personal animosity”, and was heard on the footage saying “Go away groomer”, “Go away you disgusting incel”, and calling her a “sissy porn-watching scumbag”.
The footage ends as Linehan reached out and grabbed the phone, which he then threw to the ground.
Linehan argued he had been provoked and said he grabbed the phone as a “reflex”.
Ms Brooks faced tough questions from his barrister, Sarah Vine KC, about her activities that day, as she was accused of harassing women and then harassing Linehan.
The Bafta-winning writer, who has sitcoms The IT Crowd, Father Ted, Black Books and Motherland in his catalogue of works, wore a T-shirt at his first court appearance in the case emblazoned with the words ‘Trans women are not women’ in a reference to the landmark Supreme Court ruling earlier this year
Giving evidence, Linehan said his “life was made hell” by trans activists, and he called Ms Brooks a “young soldier in the trans activist army”.
The writer added: “He was misogynistic, he was abusive, he was snide.
“He depended on his anonymity to get close to people and hurt them, and I wanted to destroy that anonymity.”
Asked about the impact on his personal life since his involvement in gender critical activism, Linehan replied: “I lost my marriage. When I refused to stop talking about it, that’s when they went after my wife.
“They scared her to such an extent, and the police visit scared her to such an extent – I was losing all my income, finally the pressure drove us apart.”
Linehan said his Wikipedia page has been “basically defaced”.
The writer said he had lived in Arizona, USA, for the last six months, having previously lived in Surrey Quays, London, and Norwich.
Linehan denied harassing Ms Brooks between October 11 and October 27 last year, and a charge of criminal damage of their mobile phone on October 19 last year.
