Graham Linehan, the co-creator of the TV sitcom Father Ted, has accused the police of “basically working for trans activists” as he defended himself in court against charges of criminal damage and harassing a teenager.
He denied claims from the prosecution that he had “become a bit obsessed” with Sophia Brooks, a then 17-year-old transgender activist, with whom he had an altercation last October.
The 57-year-old said Brooks was a “young soldier in the trans activist army”, adding: “He was misogynistic, he was abusive, he was snide.”
Linehan said: “Brooks lies about their name, about their sex. I don’t believe anything he says. He is a born liar.”
The court was told Linehan and Brooks had met for the first time in person outside the Battle of Ideas conference in Westminster on 19 October last year.
Linehan told police he knocked a phone out of the hand of Brooks, who had been filming him, after being taunted about his divorce. The move was said by Linehan to have been a “reflex response” to a “provocative statement”.
When asked if he had had any intention to incite any violent action, Linehan told Westminster magistrates court: “No, because the violence and toxicity in the trans debate comes entirely from the trans side. I intended to make sure that the next time he came to any similar event, people would know to expect trouble and people would be on their guard.”
He added: “The nature of trans activism is that it is very male. It’s abusive, it’s sadistic. The police are basically working for trans activists these days. They don’t understand the issue and they believe everything trans activists say to them. A lot of institutions have been captured by trans ideology.”
Linehan also accused the Guardian of having described him as “anti-trans” after he was first spoken to by police.
He is on trial on one count of harassing Brooks on social media between 11 and 27 October last year and a further charge of criminal damage to a mobile phone on 19 October. He denies the charges.
A prepared statement from Linehan, given during a police interview on 5 February with the acting DS Thomas Wells, was read to the court by the prosecution. The statement, in which Linehan referred to Brooks as Tarquin, read: “I was first approached by Tarquin when I arrived at the venue and I was subject to a form of harassment with Tarquin approaching me and filming me at close quarters.
“This typically involved placing a phone immediately in front of someone’s face only a few inches away and filming them while trying to provoke a reaction. People often try to block the phone and Tarquin treats that as a game.
“He had no respect at all for people’s privacy or personal space. I had to try to ignore Tarquin as much as possible but was then confronted by Tarquin again at the end of the conference. Tarquin made a provocative statement about my current family position. I am now divorced and this is a very sensitive subject for me, as he well knows.”
Linehan added: “The taunting from Tarquin was completely unnecessary. In response I grabbed the phone and threw it to one side. I had had enough of the constant harassment from Tarquin and needed to stop him from taunting me any further. I did not intend to cause any damage and I do not know if it was damaged or not, it was a reflex response to provocative actions by Tarquin.
“I accept I have referred to Tarquin in posts, but as a journalist, I believe exposing the tactics of vindictive and aggressive trans activists is in the public interest.”
Asked how the Tarquin name came to be used, Brooks had told the court on the first day of the trial: “It is apparently to do with my poshness.”
The court has heard from the prosecution that Linehan, who has no previous convictions, had “relentlessly” posted abusive and vindictive material on social media about Brooks, now 18.
Linehan was arrested over separate matters when he landed at Heathrow airport on Monday on suspicion of inciting violence over three social media posts about transgender people. He was flying from Arizona to the UK to attend the Westminster magistrates court trial.
The writer told the court on Friday that he had lived in the US state of Arizona for the past six months, having previously lived in Surrey Quays, south-east London, and Norwich.
The case continues.
