Graham Linehan ‘proud’ to damage trans activist’s phone, court told

Graham Linehan is appealing against his conviction for criminal damage (PA)

TV writer and activist Graham Linehan was “proud” to have damaged a trans activist’s mobile phone during a dispute outside a conference, a court has been told.

Mr Linehan, 57, snatched the phone of Sophia Brooks and threw it to the ground outside the Battle of Ideas conference in Westminster on October 19 2024.

The Irish comedy writer, who helped to create shows including Father Ted and Black Books, flew in from Arizona to attend an appeal hearing against his conviction for criminal damage at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday.

Prosecutor Julia Faure Walker, opening the case before Mrs Justice Amanda Tipples, told the court Mr Linehan gained “a sense of personal superiority” from the incident, and expressed it in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on October 22 2024.

The post – in which Mr Linehan refers to Ms Brooks as male – read: “I’m quite proud that I grabbed his phone and threw it across the road. He was furious.” 

“Clearly, Mr Linehan was pleased by gaining a sense of personal superiority over a transgender activist,” Ms Faure Walker said.

She further told Mrs Justice Tipples the court was “not being invited to take sides in an ideological debate”.

“Whilst earlier events provide context, the prosecution would invite the court to focus primarily on what happened immediately before Mr Linehan took the phone out of Ms Brooks’ hands,” she added.

The hearing on Thursday was shown footage filmed on Ms Brooks’ phone in the moments leading up to the criminal damage incident.

While filming outside the venue, the activist approached Mr Linehan and asked: “Why do you think it is acceptable to call teenagers domestic terrorists?” `

On the footage, Mr Linehan can be heard calling Ms Brooks a “porn-watching scumbag,” a “groomer” and a “disgusting incel”, with the complainant responding: “You’re the incel, you’re divorced.” 

Another video played in court on Thursday appeared to show Mr Linehan grabbing or slapping the complainant’s phone out of her hands.

Mr Linehan was cleared by a judge at Westminster Magistrates’ Court last November of harassing Ms Brooks with a series of social media posts before and after the incident.

But he was convicted by District Judge Briony Clarke of criminal damage over his actions with the mobile phone.

The Bafta-winning writer is a prominent anti-trans activist, and was accused of harassment for branding Ms Brooks a “domestic terrorist”, a “groomer” and an “incel” in social media posts.

In her verdict, Judge Clarke said Mr Linehan’s social media posts may have been “annoying” and were “deeply unpleasant, insulting and even unnecessary”, but they did not amount to “oppressive” conduct.

Turning to the criminal damage charge, the judge dismissed Mr Linehan’s case that he had grabbed the handset and threw it away to prevent Ms Brooks committing a criminal offence, and said he could reasonably have known that it would be damaged.

He was “angry and fed up”, said the judge, before imposing a €577 fine on Mr Linehan.

The writer was also ordered to pay costs of €750 and a court fee of €230.

The appeal hearing at Southwark Crown Court is expected to continue on Friday.