Linehan diz aos ativistas do Tribunal Trans fez sua vida ‘inferno’

Graham Linehan has told a court his life was “made hell” by transgender activists, including one he is accused of harassing.

Giving evidence on the second day of his trial at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday, Linehan said: “Trans activists have spent the last 10 years demonising anyone who stands up for them.”

Prosecutors allege Linehan “relentlessly” posted abusive comments about Sophia Brooks, 18, on social media last October before throwing the phone into a road.

The co-creator of Dad Ted has pleaded not guilty to charges of harassment and criminal mischief.

Linehan told the court that her “life was made by the activists, by the journalists” because of her views on gender identity, and the trial is “just the latest attempt to punish me by prosecution.”

He said: “Anyone can select themselves into that [transgender] group… predatory men are doing it, and the police are doing their bidding… the police believe them at their every word.”

The Irish comedy writer added: “I heard about how certain people were being targeted by him [the complainant]. I am now in a group of eight people who have suffered various forms of harassment.”

He told the court: “I felt he was able to get away with a lot of his activities because he was almost like a Twitter avatar floating around with no real connection to the earth.”

District Judge Briony Clarke said the prosecution had addressed the complainant based on the “affirmed gender name”, while the defendant’s position was that the “complainant is male”.

On Thursday, the trial heard that Linehan posted messages on social media calling the complainant – whom he called Tarquin – a “deeply disturbed sociopath” and a “domestic terrorist”.

Asked on Friday why he used “Sociopath”, Mr Linehan replied: “Because the things he was involved in caused great misery to people.”

Asked why he used other insults, including “Scumbag, hygiene, homophobic, sadist”, Mr Linehan replied: “I don’t think there’s anything lesser than a man who bullies a woman.”

Linehan also said he moved to Arizona, US, from the UK six months ago after being “isolated” because of his views.

“And while I was in isolation, the press… was able to beat me in the dark. This has been going on for the last eight years. And I chose to leave the UK.”

Prosecutors said Linehan harassed Brooks on social media, accusing her of a “homophobic attack” for her involvement in disrupting an LGB Alliance conference on October 11, 2024, when thousands of critics were broadcast live.

His messages “were not just annoying or irritating, but oppressive and unacceptable, crossing the threshold into harassment,” Julia Faure Walker, for the prosecution, said Thursday.

Linehan is also accused of damaging Brooks’ phone when she tried to confront him outside the Battle of Ideas Conference in London on October 19 last year.

Prosecutors alleged Linehan “deliberately knocked” Brooks’ phone out of her hand after she challenged him while filming.

A video played on the court appeared to show Linehan taking the complainant’s phone.

In his evidence, Linehan said the complainant’s behaviour at the event was “incredibly annoying and persistent”.

“My adrenaline was kicking in… I felt angry,” he said. “I grabbed the phone from him, put it back… I could see he was furious… so I threw the phone.”

It was an “instinctive” action, he said. “As soon as I did it, I thought… this was a mistake.”

The trial continues.

This trial is not connected to the allegations that led to Linehan’s much-publicized arrest at Heathrow Airport on Monday.

He said he was met by five armed officers over messages he had previously posted about trans people in X, sparking a backlash from some public figures and politicians and igniting a fierce debate over policing and free speech.

In that case, he was arrested on suspicion of inciting violence and was bailed “pending further investigation.”