Television writer Graham Linehan, best known for creating Father Ted, The IT Crowd, and Black Books, was arrested at London’s Heathrow Airport on Monday over social media posts about transgender issues. Linehan, 57, said he was met by five armed officers after arriving on an American Airlines flight from Arizona and informed he was being taken into custody.
In a post on his Substack, he wrote that he was held in a cell and questioned about three posts he had published on X in April. The posts, according to Linehan, involved him challenging a “trans-identified male” in a “female-only space.”
The Metropolitan Police confirmed the arrest but did not name Linehan. “On Monday, September 1, at 1 pm officers arrested a man at Heathrow airport after he arrived on an inbound American Airlines flight,” a police spokesperson said, according to The Guardian.
“The man in his 50s was arrested on suspicion of inciting violence. This is in relation to posts on X. After being taken to police custody, officers became concerned for his health and he was taken to hospital. His condition is neither life-threatening nor life-changing. He has now been bailed pending further investigation. The arrest was made by officers from the MPS aviation unit. It is routine for officers policing airports to carry firearms. These were not drawn or used at any point during the arrest.”
Linehan said that while in custody his blood pressure “was over 200 – stroke territory,” leading to his transfer to a hospital where he was kept under observation before being released on bail.
The arrest comes as Linehan is separately scheduled to appear before Westminster magistrates on Thursday. He is accused of harassing a trans-identified man who goes by the name Sophia Brooks, and damaging her phone—charges he denies.
In a post on his Substack, he wrote that he was held in a cell and questioned about three posts he had published on X in April. The posts, according to Linehan, involved him challenging a “trans-identified male” in a “female-only space.”
The Metropolitan Police confirmed the arrest but did not name Linehan. “On Monday, September 1, at 1 pm officers arrested a man at Heathrow airport after he arrived on an inbound American Airlines flight,” a police spokesperson said, according to The Guardian.
“The man in his 50s was arrested on suspicion of inciting violence. This is in relation to posts on X. After being taken to police custody, officers became concerned for his health and he was taken to hospital. His condition is neither life-threatening nor life-changing. He has now been bailed pending further investigation. The arrest was made by officers from the MPS aviation unit. It is routine for officers policing airports to carry firearms. These were not drawn or used at any point during the arrest.”
Linehan said that while in custody his blood pressure “was over 200 – stroke territory,” leading to his transfer to a hospital where he was kept under observation before being released on bail.
The arrest comes as Linehan is separately scheduled to appear before Westminster magistrates on Thursday. He is accused of harassing a trans-identified man who goes by the name Sophia Brooks, and damaging her phone—charges he denies.
