Graham Linehan arrested on arrival at Heathrow Part 4

[IDareSay]

These threads have mostly been used to follow the case that has taken place at Westminster Magistrate's Court over the 4th and 5th September, (and will continue on the 29th October), but were created to follow the fallout of Graham's arrest at Heathrow on his return to the UK for this court case last week, and what is allegedly a conspiracy of TRAs to intimidate and harass a number of people, including Graham, with the alleged support of various police services.

He is currently on trial for alleged harassment of a trans identified male and criminal damage to the man's phone. The charges stem from a series of events in October 2024 at Battle of Ideas.

Part 1 here
Part 2 here
Part 3 here
Graham's account of the arrest here
You can support his Substack here
Or buy him a coffee here

Free Speech Union are running a fundraiser to support a claim against the Met in reference to the Heathrow arrest. Just search FSU and Graham Linehan fundraiser and it should be easy to find. At the time of posting it has reached 64% of its stretch target.
The FSU have managed to get the bail condition that @Glinner must not post on X removed, so he is now freely posting on there again.

Most of the mainstream media have reported on the case, but none have covered it as well as Nick Wallis. Follow him on X for live posting from the court again on 29th October.
You can support Nick here (posted Friday 5th September):
"I am deeply grateful to everyone who has seen fit to bung me the cost of a coffee, a pint or even a bloody London pint since I found out I was able to come back today. If you think you can afford to make a small donation, there’s more info here:"
https://store29806256.company.site

NW

District Judge Briony Clarke is sitting. She asks GL his name and DOB GL gives his name Graham George Linehan and DOB 22 May 1968

NW

Judge (J) is reading out the agreed statement re pronoun use. Basically GL and his team will use sex-based pronouns and call SB Ms Brooks he/him or the complainant. There will be 3 defence witnesses and submissions from both parties.

NW

There is no jury - the judge has just indicated she will provide a written judgment at a later date TBA

Kate Harris is the first witness and has just been called. Whilst we are waiting for her to be sworn in...

PLEASE NOTE MY TWEETS ARE MERELY SUMMARIES OR CHARACTERISATIONS OF WHAT IS HAPPENING AND BEING SAID - NOTHING REPORTING IS A DIRECT VERBATIM QUOTE UNLESS IT IS IN "DIRECT QUOTES"

NW

KH has been sworn in Sarah Vine KC (SV) asks what she does
KH trustee of LGB Alliance
SV which you set up with Bev Jackson?
KH yes
SV what's it's purpose KH to ensure matters of sex and gender can be disussed in the public square without fear of accusations of transphobia

SV is LGBA a reg charity
KH yes
SV was that a straightforward journey
KH [laughs] no - it took a year, which is about average, we were very careful to follow the rules re governance etc

SV was there subsequently an attemp by another charity to have your status revoked
KH not one charity it was an attempt by EVRY LGBT charity to have our status revoked. Eventually Stonewal,, LGBT consortium, GI and GIRES were coordinated along with Mermaids by Jolyon at...

... the GLW to have our status removed
SV was that successful?
KH no

Thankyou @IDareSay it's much appreciated. I'm flicking between here and Darlington nurses as I'm sure many others are.

NW

SV lets go to events of 11 Oct last year - the LGBA annual conference at the QE2 confy centre in Westminster -first one?
KH no we have them annually - it's our biggest - I think it was our fourth
SV are there protests
KH yes
SV sign or relatively minor?

KH relatively minor
SV were there any protests when you arrived last year
KH possibly - can't really remember so they must have been insig
SV was there an event during conference?
KH yes
SV what happened?

KH many children are victims of the ideology that we fight which tells children they can be born in the wrong body - one speaker was Jamie Whistle [Jamie Reed, Whistleblower]
SV you were about to interview her
KH yes
SV what happened?
KH I heard screaming - I came out into the auditorium and I saw

... people running towards the exit. I subsequently discovered that 1000s of live crickets had been released into the audience. All over the place - down't peoples heads necks bags everywhere

SV who did this
KH i thought they weren't attendees as they were kids and they looked panicked SV were you able to identify who was responsible for the release of the crickets KH not until 5 or 10 mins later
SV how many people were involved in the release of crickets
KH about 6

NW

SV all young?
KH all young people - I met them in a room where they were being held by security - they were in a huddle like you might be at a netball match. I would say they were about 16
SV what was the purpose of their disruption
KH I asked why they did this and asked why...

... they just didn't come and speak to me - I said they looked just like I did when I was younger. they said they'd tried to talk to me and that Jamie Reed was a threat to trans kids and they thought JR shouldn't speak

NW

SV did the talk go ahead?
KH yes the QE2 has a large auditorium, but they have a large side room and I interviewed her there.

SV if we work on the understanding the young people were TRAs - was that visible from they way they looked
KH no
SV any signs of any political affiliation
KH no they just looked like kids

SV let's go to following week - to the Battle of Ideas (BoI) - you pay for a ticket and it runs over 2 days
KH yes
SV and when you get a ticket do you get the programme of speakers
KH it's all online anyway

NW

SV is there a hard copy timetable on arrival at the venue
KH yes SV which says what the sessions are about KH yes
SV so 19 Oct which I think was the first day - there was a session about "will the gender wars ever end"
KH yes

SV did you attend
KH yes
SV do you know Sophia Brooks (SB)
KH know him now
SV recognised him then?
KH no
SV do you know a man called Freda Wallace
KH yes
SV how?

KH he was v vociferous against us on twitter to the extent we made a complaint to his employer NW Ambulance
SV so on 19 Oct did you see FW?
KH only at the panel thing
SV whats the format for the panel
KH 4 or 5 speakers with Claire Fox chairing and 200 or so in the

... audience
SV you now know SB was there
KH yes
SV where were you sitting
KH side on
SV when did you see them
KH when I did - my heart sank

NW

SV is about different ideas being held and spoken about respectfully
KH yes
SV did your heart sink because tehy had differing views?
KH my heart sank because over a decade no one who holds their views is capable of sensible dialogue - they work on malicious attacks...

... illegal acts and nodebate- they have no constructive arguments and cannot seem to engage - these people have shown themselves to be incapable of dialogue and that's why my heart sank.
SV did you make a literal note or them or a mental note
KH a mental note

SV when did SB next come to your attention
KH when Fiona McEnena was speaking I saw a "big bloke" stand up with a large camera and began to photograph "in a way I can only describe as intimidating" my reaction was not that this is someone in the

... conference in the interest of taking photos - he was in peoples' faces "I think it was a deliberately intimidative move on his part. There was no stop - it went on and on and on"
SV "who was he photographing was he photographing the panel"
KH "he was photographing...

... anybody and everybody. It felt intrusive" it felt tinged with violence - the courteous response to this is oh someone is doing something rather strange I hope he stops soon - and he didn't - it was deliberately provocative. It was very intrusive - he was capturing images to..

... take and keep - if he'd been waving a stick he would have been stopped, but an image is worse - he now owns your image.
SV what happened
KH disruption was complete FM kept speaking i don't know how, but everyone knew what was going on - a large man was taking photos and...

... every time someone tried to tell him to stop he would say "don't touch me! don't touch me!" I just hoped security would turn up
SV did you do anything?
KH I took my conference programme and put it between the camera and the people he was trying to photo

NW

I couldn't say anything to him as the session was still ongoing - it was a bit pathetic looking back, but it was all I could do
SV did you photo him
KH don't think so - wouldn't want an image of him on my camera and I"m not sure I could whilst I was holding the programme

KH others do
SV what was FW doing
KH couldn't see him - I think Fred/Freda was sitting in his seat - can't help you with that

SV he - SB - was removed by volunteers and security
KH yes
SV after that did you notice anything that FW did - did he do owt to draw your attn to himself
KH I think he may have said we are here to engage in the BoI - my memory of that is not as clear as what the cameraman was

... doing. Afai remember FW left with the man who calls himself SB.
SV did they leave together
KH either together or Fred/Freda went soon after and session was able to resume.

NW

SV says she's going to play some footage - if you can tell us when we watch it if this records with your recollection of what happened

[we are watching a video of the confrontation between a woman talking about people in the room who have been victims of violence and SB - SB says - she's touching me - don't touch me] SB get a phone out - goes back into th room and starts either filming or taking photos

[FM is talking about sexual violence in the background]
SV stopping there is that you with the piece of paper
KH it is [a/v continues - SB keeps filming - he is filming someone filming him - security arrives and SB is accompanied out either filming or photo-ing with his phone]

SV just stopping there - is this person [circles with cursor] Fred Wallace?
KH yes

SV after he had been escorted out did you stay in the session
KH yes
SV how did you feel
KH "just a sense of will it ever get better, really - these continuous attempts to silence and disrupt these important discussion - i just felt tired of it is the best way to sum it up"

NW

SV "if he had approached you during the BoI and asked to debate something relating to sex and gender - something to do with why you disagreed with one another" what would you do?
KH I'd ask him if he was serious about it and if so I'd go for a coffee with him and we'd talk

KH I can't tell you the number of times we've tried to engage the door is always slammed in our face - the only way we're going to progress is if we talk to each other. So yes I would if he was sure he was serious
SV did you see him again
KH I saw him and Freda/Fred outside the

... conference doing a little demo with a sign saying something like TR are HR - but I didn't have any further interaction
SV you know what this trial is about - did you see any confrontation or engagement btween SB and GL
KH no
SV do you know GL
KH yes v well

NW

SV thanks - now time for P counsel Julia Faure Walker
KH me and GL are old friends
P if he had asked you and you could have told him what happened at the QE2 centre
KH absolutely yes

P just want to ask you a little bit about the LGBA - please do not take them as an attack on an ideological viewpoint - you said LGBA is about allowing ideas about sex and gender can be debated in the public sphere without recriminations - and you say Jamie Reed...

and you fight against the sex reassignment of gender non-conforming children KH yes
P so you think gender is sex-based
KH no that's not a correct representation
P weren't you formed as a charity for same-sex attracted people KH so you believe in sex not gender

[there's a discussion between counsel] [counsel apologises and it's clear she's not too clear on gender/sex difference]
KH you're getting me wrong - it's not an ideological position to say there are two sexes - we uphold the law and biology
P that's your view
KH no that's a fact

NW

• that's incontrovertible

P what if someone wants to call themselves she that goes against your view KH they can call themselves what they want - a zebra or a poodle - but that doesn't stop them being a man - we mustn't over-complicate that P but you think that children...

... are victims of an ideology
KH yes - it's a fiction and a damaging one
P so you won't change your view
KH it's not my view - every human being is born from a man or a woman - it's just fact
P at the battle of ideas in Oct 2024 - GL was a speaker on one of the day
KH quite...

... possibly
P Julie Bindel
KH yes
P Az Hakeem speaking on why I won't affirm your gender
KH he's one of our patrons
[P starts listing the large number of GC people speaking at the festival and a detransitioner called Ritchie Herron]

P have you ever seen Freda Wallace on news programmes explaining their point of view
KH I have seen attempts of FW to speak, but I don't think he helps his cause
P he's quite rare
KH yes
P what about online - rare to have discussions between opposing views on this? KH v rare

P who took photos of SB before he got up
KH no idea
P not saying it was you, but do you remember someone did
KH can't remember
P did you take one before Ms Brooks stood up
KH can't remember

NW

... pretty sure I didn't
[P passes phot to KH]
P see FW and SB sitting down
KH yes P did you take that photo
KH not as far as I'm aware [KH agrees it is a photo of them sitting at the BoI]

P at the beginning of the a/v we saw do you remember Brooks saying "you took a photo of me!"
KH don't remember him saying that of me
P did you see anyone take a photo of him
KH no
P when we see Brooks taking photos we see them filming or photot-ing her
KH I don't accept that

P we don't see it on the video do we
KH that is a clip which isn't from the beginning - it's towards the end it finished with him being led out - there was quite a lot before - it's a misrepresentation to say they were harassing him -
P but we have a photo of them sitting down

.. and then lots of people filming/photoing him
KH there's a huge difference between taking a snap of someone sitting at the back of a room, and going round pushing a camera in their faces - I don't want to overexaggerate but he was being intimidating...

... like he wanted to get everyone in his camera as if to say I can do this I can do what I like I'm the big man here
P you have said Brooks was taking photographs - FM's speech was only interrupted for more than 20s
KH no it was longer than that
P the clip shows it...

NW

KH she carried on speaking throughout - don't know how she did that'
P but her speech was only interrupted for 20s
KH I don't accept that
P the chair was Baroness Claire Fox and at the end of the conference she gave a big speech about the good atmosphere of the conference...

... and the solidarity
KH wasn't there
P whatever Brooks did it didn't have a significant effect on the conference did it KH yes I think it did - these attacks are cumulative - they build and build - they plan how to undermine our events - it's part of an organised campaign

... of intimidation - and it makes you despair - because we know it just happens again again and again
P not Brooks
KH I understand he attends all sorts of events even dressing up as a symapthetic woman to get access to events
P not seen this yourself
KH no I've

seen videos and spoken to other women about him.
P but not seen it yourself
KH no
P and just going back to what you saw outside - "a little demo"
KH yes their normal behaviour - only 2 or 3 of them
P little demo
KH yes [re-ex by SV]

NW

SV you were asked about gender non-conforming children being victims of an ideology... is the fact that these children are gender-non-confirming - do you oppose children not conforming to gender norms
KH I am fully in favour of gender-non-conforming children - that was me -

I was put in the boys team at school and if someone had come along to me and I was told I was born in the wrong body and gave me hormones and surgery I would not have grown into the happy lesbian I am today

SV Battle of Ideas is a big festival - lots of events over two days all day
KH yes
SV and the audience are invited to take part as much as the panelists
KH yes that's the idea
SV was there any disruption in any other event

KH no
J thanks for coming to give your evidence - stay or go - just don't talk to anyone about the case until all the evidence has finished.
[SV calls

• Fiona McEnena - SV says she isn't sure on her surname pron]

I need to go out for a short time now. Will pick up Fiona's evidence when I get back but if anyone else wants to C&P Nick's tweets please do!

NW

we'll soon find out - I think it's Mac-EN-EN-a]

[others think it's Mac-EY-NEY-na]

[I am wrong - it's Fiona Mac-Eh-NEyN-a]

Anyway FM is sworn in - SV is going through her SV - her Fair Play for Women work and lots more

SV would like to ask you about events of 19 Oct last year - you were invited to speak on a panel
FM yes
SV title?
FM "Gender Wars: is the end in sight" four speakers and a chair - we were told to prepare 5 or 6 mins as in introductory talk
SV when you are covering a subject like

it a long time
FM no it's difficult to pack it all in
SV when were you
FM third - it's so short because BoI wants to give the audience time to participate
SV were there people in the audience you recognised
FM yes - room was full

SV did you know or recog SB?
FM no
SV did you know or recog FW
FM yes
SV was that a concern?
FM no
SV you spoke about three things
FM the last one was male violence - I talked about women;s rights

FM I spoke about all women achieving equality of oppo and how long it had taken, how trans activism posed a threat and how violence was an underlying thing
SV what happened
FM I was doing a talk and I was aware of someone standing up and shuttling out

... into the aisle - he had his phone up to film and it was unusual - there was a lot of commotion around him
SV when he first got up was that something you saw directly
FM he was kind of in my eyeline, he was next to FW I was just aware of something happening in that part...

... of the audience. The thing seemed to escalate - people must have been telling him to sit down - I saw him with a camera in the face of someone I am pretty sure was Julie Bindel
SV did it stop you talking
FM it almost stopped me talking - we had a hubbub

... and people were moving and I must have stopped because Claire Fox quietly said "just keep going"
SV of your five or six minutes how much was disrupted by his actions
FM guessing - but I would think more than half
SV in terms of you felt how the impact of your talk went...

... did it have an effect on it
FM had an impact on me - because I was sure people couldn't here. My husband told me he - even tho he was there to support me - told me he was distracted. It was an emotional subject and it felt very unfair to have it undermined...

... and trivialised in that way.
SV were you aware others were filming and photographing him
FM yes there was a whole ton of stuff going on which wasn't people facing the panel and hearing us talk which is what they'd come for.

[we are shown the video again]
[we hear FM voice talking about male sexual violence against women whilst we are watching the confrontation between SB and others in the room]
SV by this stage how long had the disruption been going
FM I was about half way through and just...

... trying hard to keep going.
[we possibly hear Claire Fox saying we're going to carry on - on video FM talks about women having less chance of fighting off a male attacker...]
SV do you remember this part of your talk?
FM yes
SV were you able to concentrate
FM no. It was

I can do it till you come back xx

From NW

... frustrating to keep going because I knew I did not have the attention of half the room.
[we go back to the av with more FM talking about female safety and dignity - and how men don't want women walking in on them having a pee at the urinals]

SV who is the woman in the spotty top
FM think it's Julie Bindel - yes
[av keeps going as we hear FM talking and see SB being ejected by security - filming and photographing people as he goes]

SV did you see what happened after he left?
FM no
SV you are aware there was an altercation involving him and GL outside church house
FM yes
SV were you there
FM i was in the street - I wasn't looking at them
SV did you witness owt?

FM I saw a phone land on the ground, that's all
SV hands over to P
P Could we play the video again - I just want to see if we can have your help with who is saying something about "prats"

From NW

[a/v plays - SB says "she's touching me - No she's touching me" and then we hear a voice saying "we're going to carry on"]
P was that CF
FM sounds like it
P so that was her telling you to carry on
FM yes

From NW

[going through the timeline - FM stops for a few seconds, CF says quietly to continue, there is more disruption then FM pauses again and CF says into the mic that they're going to carry on]
P you're still talking
FM I was doing my best
P you were able to continue
FM I was able

From NW

... to keep talking I don't know if people were able to keep listening
P yes we see people turning her heads - you say you saw Brooks had his phone out - but in the video we see her with her big camera out, putting that away and then getting her phone out - are you mistaken...