It was a story of two halves at Westminster Magistrates’ Court as Graham Linehan flew in from Arizona to hear the judgment following his three-day trial in September.
The Father Ted creator was cleared of harassing trans activist Sophia Brooks on social media but convicted of criminal damage.
The Free Speech Union has supported Graham throughout this process, instructing and funding a top-flight legal team to defend him. That team successfully persuaded District Judge Briony Clarke that Graham’s online comments did not meet the legal threshold for harassment — even if they were, in her words, “deeply unpleasant, insulting and unnecessary.”
Judge Clarke found Graham to be “a credible witness” who was “not seeking to mislead the court,” but expressed concerns about the complainant, whom she believed had not been “giving entirely truthful evidence.” She also noted that she did not believe the complainant was as distressed as he claimed. Who would have thought?
Linehan is one of the most prominent voices in the gender-critical movement but also one of its highest-profile targets. His willingness to speak publicly about gender ideology has cost him his career and placed a target squarely on his back for trans activists to aim at.
While most people recognise that holding gender-critical beliefs is a protected characteristic under UK law — reaffirmed by the Supreme Court earlier this year — a militant minority does not. More worryingly, the police have consistently behaved like the personal Stasi of the trans activist movement.
Writing for The Telegraph, General Secretary and founder of the Free Speech Union, Lord Young of Acton stated that this was an “important victory for free speech, since it makes it less likely that people who express gender-critical views on social media or who “misgender” trans people in future will be arrested under suspicion of committing a criminal offence”.
But there was a sting in the tail.
Graham was convicted of criminal damage for knocking a militant activist’s phone out of his hand after Sophia Brooks thrust it aggressively into his face as he departed the Battle of Ideas festival last October.
The Free Speech Union is concerned about this judgment and the precedent it sets. Gender-critical events across the country have increasingly been targeted by aggressive pro-trans activists intent on exercising a heckler’s veto and shutting down debate.
Activists have deployed tactics — such as those used by Brooks — to intimidate those who disagree with them or provoke a heated reaction. This verdict effectively signals to far-left activists that they have the green light to continue to escalate such behaviour to silence opposing views.
The Free Speech Union has covered Graham’s legal costs and remains steadfast in its support. Graham will appeal the criminal damage conviction — and the Free Speech Union will fund the appeal.
You can support Graham’s crowdfunder here.