Met Police apologise to Graham Linehan

Max Thompson, Campaigns Officer

20 May 2026

The Metropolitan Police has issued an unreserved apology to Graham Linehan following his arrest at Heathrow Airport on 1 September 2025, when five armed officers detained him on suspicion of committing a public order offence over posts he had made on X.

The posts — which included one calling on people to "make a scene, call the cops and if all else fails, punch him in the balls" if a trans-identified male entered a female-only space — were reported by Lynsay Watson, a trans activist and former police officer, who alleged they constituted incitement to violence. Linehan was detained and questioned for several hours; the stress of the ordeal caused his blood pressure to rise to a dangerous level and he was taken to hospital.

The arrest made front-page news and drew international attention, including criticism from the Trump administration over the suppression of free speech in the United Kingdom. The following month, the Crown Prosecution Service announced it would take no further action. On the same day, the Metropolitan Police announced it would cease investigating non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs). Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said at the time that he did not believe the force should be "policing toxic culture war debates" and that officers had been left in "an impossible position" by the lack of clarity in the law.

Linehan lodged a formal complaint against the Met and initiated legal action with the full support of the Free Speech Union. After a five-month internal investigation, Scotland Yard has now offered an apology.

Inspector Matt Hume of the Met's Directorate of Professional Standards wrote in his report: "I accept that the service provided was not acceptable and recognise the distress and impact this matter has caused Mr Linehan. I apologise to Mr Linehan for the shortcomings in this investigation. The Met Police remains committed to lawful, proportionate policing and to learning from failings when they arise."

The investigation found that officers had wrongly focused on the gender-critical nature of the posts rather than the specific incitement allegation, and that the inquiry had been hampered by an inexperienced trainee detective and poor supervision. Inspector Hume accepted that "at times, both the investigation and arrest phases lacked the diligence one would expect from the MPS."

The apology is welcome. It has, however, taken far too long — and Graham should never have been arrested in the first place. None of the officers involved will face any disciplinary sanction beyond "learning through reflection." Scotland Yard has committed to revising the way it handles hate-crime allegations involving high-profile figures in future.

Graham Linehan is an Irish comedy writer best known for creating Father Ted and The IT Crowd. He now lives in Arizona, having relocated from the United Kingdom. For a decade he faced a sustained campaign of abuse, harassment, and vexatious complaints from trans activists in connection with his outspoken defence of women's sex-based rights — a campaign he regards as a significant factor in the breakdown of his marriage and his decision to leave the country. Graham has strongly criticised the police for kowtowing to militant trans activists trying to silence anyone that does not share their worldview.

Linehan contended that the arrest was unlawful and constituted a breach of his right to freedom of expression under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Those legal arguments remain live: while the Met's investigation accepted that the arrest was poorly handled, it stopped short of conceding that the arrest was unlawful — a question that his ongoing legal action is likely to pursue.

This is, in the end, a story about institutional failure at every stage: a vexatious complaint acted upon without adequate scrutiny; an investigation entrusted to an inexperienced officer without proper supervision; the deployment of five armed police to intercept a middle-aged television writer at an airport over social media posts; and a five-month delay before any apology was offered. The Free Speech Union will continue to support Mr Linehan in seeking full accountability.

Read more in The Telegraph.