Key facts
- Graham Linehan received £25,000 in compensation from the Metropolitan Police.
- The Metropolitan Police issued an apology to Graham Linehan.
- Linehan was arrested at Heathrow airport over his social media posts.
- The Met stated the arrest prompted a policy change to no longer investigate non-crime hate incidents.
- The force acknowledged shortcomings in the investigation, arrest, and bail conditions.
Graham Linehan, co-creator of Father Ted, has been awarded £25,000 in compensation and received an apology from the Metropolitan Police following his arrest at Heathrow airport in September. The arrest was related to three posts made on X (formerly Twitter) concerning gender-critical views. Linehan was detained for 12 hours on suspicion of inciting violence.
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police stated that the case prompted a significant policy change, meaning the force will no longer investigate non-crime hate incidents. The force acknowledged "considerable distress" caused to Linehan and accepted "shortcomings in the investigation, the arrest and the imposition of bail conditions" in a letter to the writer.
The settlement was reached after a civil claim, with concerns raised about the systems and guidelines in place at the time of the investigation. Linehan's posts included controversial captions and statements, which he maintained were not intended to encourage violence, though he admitted to making a "bad joke".
The arrest had previously drawn criticism, with Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, describing it as "thought-policing". Linehan had also announced in October that the investigation into his social media messages had been dropped, having been under bail conditions that banned him from posting on X.
Separately, in November, Linehan was cleared of harassing a transgender activist but found guilty of criminal damage for knocking a mobile phone to the ground outside a conference. He was fined £500 for this offense.