London Court Overturns Linehan Phone Damage Conviction

A London court has overturned the criminal damage conviction of Irish comedy writer Graham Linehan following an appeal over an incident involving a transgender activist's mobile phone outside a conference in Westminster.

Mrs Justice Amanda Tipples, sitting with two magistrates at Southwark Crown Court, ruled Friday that Linehan, 57 and co-creator of the television series Father Ted, was not guilty. The judge stated, "Having considered all the evidence before us, we cannot be sure that the damage to the complainant's phone was caused by Mr Linehan on the evening of the 19th of October 2024." Linehan smiled and turned to supporters in the public gallery upon hearing the decision after a two-day hearing.

The case stemmed from a confrontation on October 19, 2024, outside the Battle of Ideas conference at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre. Linehan grabbed the phone of Sophia Brooks, then 17, and threw it to the ground during a verbal exchange captured on video. Brooks had approached Linehan while filming, asking why he believed it was acceptable to call teenagers domestic terrorists, a reference to his prior social media posts labeling her as such, along with terms like groomer and...