Graham Linehan acquitted of harassment at Westminster Magistrates’ Court
Sarah Vine KC successfully defended the comedy writer and journalist, Graham Linehan, against an allegation of online harassment.
The Complainant, SB, was a trans activist who reported suffering “alarm and distress” as a result of a series of posts on Mr. Linehan’s X account. The posts expressed Mr. Linehan’s belief that SB was involved in a ‘heckler’s veto’ attack on the 2024 conference of the charity, LGB Alliance. Mr. Linehan, described by the judge as a generally frank and honest witness, gave evidence that he was seeking to unmask SB, whom he considered to be keen to remain anonymous for the purposes of infiltrating gender critical groups and gatherings.
Mr. Linehan was also tried for an allegation of damaging the Complainant’s phone at the ‘Battle of Ideas’ free speech event, where the Complainant used the phone to film attendees (including Mr. Linehan) without their consent. He was convicted of that offence, and the matter is subject to an appeal in the Crown Court.
It was the case for Mr. Linehan that the complaints were made in bad faith, as a part of a campaign by trans activists to silence and penalise their political opponents. The involvement of a number of older trans activists in the background to the case emerged during the trial, including the identity of the activist responsible for the complaint which resulted in Mr. Linehan’s well-publicised arrest at Heathrow Airport on the 1st September [BBC coverage].
District Judge Clarke’s judgment [here] found that, although some of the language used by Mr. Linehan was “deeply unpleasant and insulting”, it did not cross the threshold into the oppressive and unacceptable. The judgment provides an analysis which may be instructive for future cases, emphasising the importance of considering the conduct of the Complainant, as well as the Defendant, in a case of online harassment.
Sarah Vine KC was instructed by Daniel Berke at 3D solicitors, and the crowdfunding was raised by the Free Speech Union.
The trial received widespread press coverage [here], and was live-tweeted by Nick Wallis, journalist and author of The Great Post Office Scandal.
