Graham Linehan cleared of harassing trans activist but convicted of damaging phone | Graham Linehan

Father Ted co-creator Graham Linehan was cleared of harassing a trans activist on social media but was found guilty of criminal damage to her mobile phone outside a conference in London last year.

The 57-year-old man flew from Arizona to attend Westminster magistrates’ court in person on Tuesday, where the verdict was handed down by district judge Briony Clarke.

Linehan denied a charge that he harassed Sophia Brooks on social media between 11 and 27 October last year and criminal damage to her mobile phones outside the Battle of Ideas conference in Westminster on 19 October last year.

The hearing heard Brooks began taking photographs of delegates at the event during a speech by Fiona McAnena, Sex Matters’ campaign director.

Outside the event, the activist asked Linehan: “Why do you think it is acceptable for young people to be called domestic terrorists?”

In response, the court heard Linehan called Brooks a “female porn watching bastard”, a “caregiver” and a “disgusting slime”, to which the complainant responded: “You’re a slime, you’re a divorcee”.

Prosecutor Julia Faure Walker told the court Linehan wrote “repetitive, abusive, unreasonable” social media posts about Brooks, whom he called Tarquin.

The comedy writer, whose strong views on gender issues are well-publicised, said her “life had been made hell” by trans activists, adding that the complainant was “a young soldier in the trans activist army”.

The author added: “He was misogynistic, abusive, condescending. He relied on his anonymity to get close to people and hurt them, and I wanted to destroy that anonymity.”

More details coming soon…