TV writer Graham Linehan is back in court following allegations he harassed a trans woman and damaged her phone following an alleged incident in Westminster last year

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Graham Linehan has been in court(Image: Getty Images)

Father Ted co-creator Graham Linehan has admitted to throwing a trans activist’s phone after an argument. The comedy writer is currently on trial in London.

He is accused of harassing trans woman Sophia Brooks. The claims include damaging her phone during an incident outside the Battle of Ideas conference in Westminster on October 19 last year.

Ms Brooks claims that Linehan insulted her before he grabbed her device. Linehan, meanwhile, says it was a reaction while his adrenaline was high. He also claimed that his life had been made hell by trans activists before the alleged altercation.

While Linehan admits throwing the phone, he denies one count of harassing Ms Brooks on social media between 11-27 October 2024.

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Linehan admits throwing the phone(Image: Tim Merry/Staff Photographer)

He also denies a charge of criminal damage to her mobile phone. The damage is said to have cost £369.

Katherine Harris, the co-founder of LGB Alliance UK, was among those giving evidence in court on Wednesday. She told the court she saw Ms Brooks stand up with a camera during a panel discussion.

Harris, who referred to Brooks as male, said: “It was a deliberate, intimidatory move on his part and he would not stop. He was photographing anybody and everybody he could, and it felt intrusive and aggressive.”

She continued: “It felt as though he wanted to get everybody, to get all of us in his power through his camera, to say, ‘I’m the big man here, I can do what I want’. That was the message. The disruption was complete.”

Harris also revealed she knew Linehan “very well”. Last month a court heard the allegations of the phone grab.

At the time, Prosecutor Julia Faure Walker told Westminster Magistrates Court Linehan posted messages about the victim on social media “relentlessly” and added: “These posts were not merely irritating or annoying, but oppressive and unacceptable.

“The purpose of these posts, say the prosecution, was not merely to relay events, to express political opinion, to criticise, to help identify perpetrators or to solve any crime. Rather they were verbally abusive and vindictive and reflected Mr Linehan’s deep disliking of Ms Brooks. These posts were not provoked by Ms Brooks. The posts were unsolicited.”

Faure Walker added: “It is not in dispute the defendant sent the relevant social media posts. It is not in dispute that the defendant seized and threw the phone of Ms Brooks.”

The prosecution outlined at the time the alleged criminal damage incident involving the phone, which they said occurred after Ms Brooks approached Linehan while filming and asked why he had previously accused her of being “a domestic terrorist” in an online post.

The court heard he responded: “Go away groomer, go away you disgusting incel” and called her “a sissy-porn watching scumbag”.

As well as Father Ted, Dublin-born Linehan, also wrote hit TV shows The IT Crowd and Black Books.