TV writer Graham Linehan won't face charges for transgender post that sparked UK debate

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LONDON (AP) — Irish TV comedy writer Graham Linehan will not face charges following his arrest over a series of social media posts critical of transgender people, prosecutors said Monday.

The arrest last month of the co-creator of hit sitcoms “Father Ted" and the "IT Crowd" sparked a debate about freedom of speech and its limits.

Linehan, 57, was arrested Sept. 1 at Heathrow Airport on suspicion of inciting violence in posts on X after he flew.

Supporters, including “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling, who like Linehan is a critic of trans activism, said U.K. laws stifled legitimate comment. Others argued that online abuse and hate speech have real-world impact and police have a duty to take it seriously.

London’s police chief said after the arrest that ambiguities in the law had left officers “in an impossible position” and he didn't want officers “policing toxic culture war debates.”

The Metropolitan Police on Monday said that they will continue to record “non-crime hate incidents” for intelligence purposes, but will not investigate them as crimes.

Linehan is well known for posts asserting that trans women are men. In April, he said trans women were violent criminals if they used women-only facilities. He advocated hitting them if calling police and other measures failed to stop them from using such facilities.

His post on X came just days after the head of the U.K’s Equality and Human Rights Commission said transgender women would be excluded from women-only spaces such as toilets, single-sex hospital wards and sports teams. The decision followed a ruling by Britain's highest court that the terms “woman” and “man” refer to biological sex for antidiscrimination purposes.

Linehan said his questioning by police sent his blood pressure soaring and he was taken to the hospital and kept under observation before being released on bail.

Linehan said he planned to hold the police accountable for trying to "suppress gender-critical voices on behalf of dangerous and disturbed men.”

The Free Speech Union, which helped him, said it instructed its lawyers to sue the Met Police for wrongful arrest.