Asyia Iftikhar
Published November 25, 2025 10:53am
Updated November 25, 2025 11:34am
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A verdict has been delivered on the two charges against Graham Linehan (Picture: Ben Whitley/PA Wire)
Graham Linehan has been cleared of harassment but found guilty of criminal damage to transgender activist Sophia Brooks’ mobile phone.
The Father Ted co-creator, 57, flew in from Arizona to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in person on Tuesday, where District Judge Briony Clarke delivered the judgment.
His trial began at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in September, where he had denied both charges in relation to an incident in October 2024.
He denied harassing the activist on social media between October 11 and October 27, 2024. Meanwhile, the criminal damage to their mobile phone is said to have taken place on October 19 of the same year.
The criminal damages claim detailed that he allegedly damaged her £369 mobile phone at the Battle of Ideas conference – an annual event hosting public debates across a wide range of issues.
Prosecutor Julia Faure Walker also detailed the harassment charges during the trial.
Linehan heard the judge’s comments in person after arriving in the UK from Arizona (Picture: Ben Whitley/PA Wire)
In a summary of her judgment, Clarke explained that while Linehan’s social media posts – which the activist was not tagged on – were ‘deeply unpleasant, insulting and even unnecessary’ they weren’t ‘oppressive or unacceptable beyond merely unattractive, annoying or irritating’.
She concluded the conduct didn’t count as harassment, nor was the complainant as distressed as they claimed to be.
She added, in the charge of criminal damage, that Linehan was ‘angry and fed up’ when he deliberately whacked Brooks’ phone to the ground in a confrontation outside the venue.
The Irish comedy writer has become widely known for his strong and vocal stance towards the transgender community.
The charges pertained to events that occurred in October 2024 (Picture: Ben Whitley/PA Wire)
As the court heard last month, he claimed his ‘life was made hell’ by trans activists, adding that the complainant was a ‘young soldier in the trans activist army’.
Meanwhile, the court also heard that the teen activist had asked Linehan: ‘Why do you think it is acceptable to call teenagers domestic terrorists?’ to which Linehan called her ‘groomer and disgusting incel’.
She then replied: ‘You’re the incel, you’re divorced.’
In a statement during the trial, Linehan called Brooks ‘misogynistic, abusiveand snide’, adding that he wanted to ‘destroy [their] anonymity.’
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In May, when the hearing for the case took place, Linehan declared he had ‘lost a great deal’ but ‘would not waver in his resolve’.
The Father Ted creator has pushed back against trans rights activists for years (Picture: ANL/Shutterstock)
The trial started shortly after Linehan was arrested and later released on bail on ‘suspicion of inciting violence’ over three X posts in April in a completely separate incident.
The Met Police confirmed he was investigated on a non-crime hate incident, but ‘no further action will be taken in this matter’ and no charges brought against him on this allegation
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After nationwide discourse was sparked, Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said in a statement that ‘a more stringent triaging process to make sure only the most serious cases are taken forward in future – where there is a clear risk of harm or disorder’.
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Arrow MORE: Jimmy Carr comes out in support of ‘brave’ Graham Linehan after arrest
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