Graham Linehan 'relentlessly' posted abuse about trans teenager, court told

[muriel_volestrangler]

Since his "punch him in the balls" suggestion (about any trans woman in a women-only space) was held by many here to be fine as "free speech". This is why he came to the UK - to face the trial:

Linehan’s posts about Sophia Brooks were “oppressive and unacceptable”, the prosecution told a hearing at Westminster magistrates court.

Linehan, 57, is also said by prosecutors to have “deliberately whacked” a phone out of Brooks’s hand as she filmed him during a confrontation about the alleged abuse.

He and Brooks, now 18, met at a Battle of Ideas conference on 19 October when the scriptwriter “approached her with his phone, recording her and calling her a groomer, and asking how many she had groomed”, the prosecution said.
...
“He said ‘go away groomer’, ‘go away you disgusting incel’. He called her a ‘sissy porn-watching scumbag’ … He deliberately whacked the phone out of Ms Brooks’s hand.”

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/sep/04/graham-linehan-trans-teenager-court

[Eliot Rosewater]

1. Sadly all of his shows I am a big fan of

Obviously “the IT group“ but also “count Arthur Strong“ and others.

But what an ass.

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. I've loved 'Father Ted', 'The IT Crowd' and 'Motherland'

He was one of 2 co-writers for the first, writer and director for the second, and one of 4 writers for the third, for its first series (another being his then wife - I think his exit from the 2nd series was a sign that he'd gone moronic, and she and the others couldn't work with him). I hadn't liked 'Count Arthur Strong' on the radio, and never tried it on TV - had no idea he was part of the TV show.

Oh, and 'Black Books' - he was a writer for that too.

Yes, he used to be funny. Then he lost his mind, his dignity and his empathy for the human race, and became a wanker.

[Eliot Rosewater]

4. Yes of course "black books" with Dylan Moran and father Ted

All really good stuff sad that people either already are or become such assholes

[Iggo]

3. People like Harry Potter, too.