Father Ted co-creator Graham Linehan denies harassing transgender activist

By Ellie Crabbe, PA

Father Ted co-creator Graham Linehan has pleaded not guilty to harassing a transgender woman and damaging her phone.

The Dublin-born comedy writer (56) appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London on Monday to deny the charges of harassing Sophia Brooks on social media and damaging her mobile in October.

The award-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.

The 56-year-old sat in seats in front of the dock wearing glasses, a white shirt, grey suit jacket and grey jeans, and spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth and to deny the charges.

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 October 19th.

Court documents show Linehan is charged with harassing the alleged victim by posting abusive comments about her on social media between October 11th and October 27th, and damaging her phone to the value of £369 (€437) on the day of the conference.

Some supporters of the defendant were turned away from the court because of a shortage of seats.

Deputy District Judge Louise Balmain told Linehan his trial would take place on September 4 this year at the same court.

He was freed on bail with the condition not to contact the complainant directly or indirectly.