Comedy writer Graham Linehan called a trans teenager a “domestic terrorist” and “deeply disturbed sociopath” in a series of “vindictive” messages posted online, a court has heard.
The Father Ted co-creator appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday for a trial, accused of harassing trans woman Sophia Brooks. Giving evidence, Ms Brooks said his posts had left her “worried for her safety” after Linehan allegedly shared images of her with his half a million followers on X.
The 57-year-old writer denied a charge of harassing Ms Brooks on social media between 11-27 October 2024 and also denied a charge of criminal damage of her mobile phone, to the value of £369, on 19 October 2024.
The court heard Linehan first posted about Ms Brooks on October 11 last year, when an LGB Alliance conference was disrupted by insects released.
Prosecuting, Julia Faure Walker said there was “absolutely no evidence” Ms Brooks was involved, but that Linehan had “linked disruption of the event to her”.
She added Linehan began to post “relentlessly” about Ms Brooks in a manner Ms Faure Walker called “oppressive and unacceptable”. In the posts, she said Linehan had called Ms Brooks a “domestic terrorist” and a “scumbag”.
She said: “These posts were not merely irritating or annoying, but rather oppressive and unacceptable, thereby crossing the threshold into harassment.
“These posts were not provoked by Ms Brooks online in respect of anything she had done to Graham Linehan.”
On 13 October, she said Linehan posted accusing Ms Brooks of being “behind countless episodes of harassment of women and gay men both online and off”, adding “he is a deeply disturbed sociopath and I believe he had some involvement in Friday’s homophobic attack”.
Ms Brooks told the court she felt “alarmed and distressed” at the post about her being made by Linehan, who had around 500,000 followers on X at the time.
The 57-year-old allegedly damaged Ms Brooks’ mobile phone after the pair met outside the Battle of Ideas conference in Westminster on October 19. Video footage played to the court appeared to show Linehan grabbing Ms Brooks’ phone after she asked him: “Do you think it is acceptable to call teenagers domestic terrorists?”.
In a separate video shown to the court, Linehan appeared to call Ms Brooks a “sissy porn watching scumbag,” and in a third he appeared to call her a “disgusting incel”.
The defendant was “clearly proud of what he had done”, the prosecution said, citing a post he allegedly made on X referring to the incident, writing: “I’m quite proud that I grabbed his phone and threw it across the road. He was furious”.
Ms Brooks called the police soon after, the court heard.
Before going into court, Linehan posed with a sandwich board-style 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”.
Linehan, wearing a white shirt, grey jacket and dark trousers, appeared in the dock at the court on Thursday and spoke to confirm his identity.
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.
In May, following a hearing in the case, Linehan said he had “lost a great deal” but “will not waver in my resolve”.
