Father Ted co-creator Graham Linehan has arrived at court to face trial, accused of harassing a transgender woman.
The 57-year-old has denied harassing transgender activist Sophia Brooks on social media and a further charge of damaging her mobile phone in October.
The Bafta-winning writer, who also came up with TV sitcoms The IT Crowd and Black Books, has become a strong vocal critic of the trans rights movement in recent years.
His trial will begin at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.
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 19 October 2024.
According to court documents, he is charged with harassing the alleged victim by posting abusive comments about her on social media between 11 and 27 October, 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 had “lost a great deal” but “will not waver in my resolve”.
Before going into court on Thursday, the writer posed with a sign which said on one side “There’s no such thing as a ‘transgender child’”.
On the other, it said “Keep men out of women’s sports”.
On Monday, Linehan was arrested at Heathrow Airport on suspicion of inciting violence in three posts he had made on X about trans issues.
Following the incident, Sir Keir Starmer ordered police to prioritise serious crimes, saying he had made his priorities for policing “clear”.
He said police time would be better spent “tackling anti-social behaviour, shoplifting, street crime, as well as reducing serious violent crimes like knife crime and violence against women”.
Opposition politicians, including Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, have criticised the arrest.
Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has backed his officers over the incident, but said the force should not be responsible for “policing toxic culture wars debates”.
Sir Mark said his officers are in an “impossible position” as he called for the law to be changed.
