Met Police pay Graham Linehan £25,000 compensation over Heathrow arrest.

[Imnobody4]

Great news, I'm really pleased for Graham.
The Metropolitan Police have paid £25,000 in compensation to Graham Linehan after his arrest at Heathrow over his gender-critical social media posts.
In a letter to the Father Ted co-creator, the force accepted there had been “shortcomings in the investigation, the arrest and the imposition of bail conditions”.

A spokesperson for the Met said: “We recognise the considerable distress caused to Mr Linehan, and have offered our sincere apologies.
“This case prompted a significant change, which means the Met no longer investigates non-crime hate incidents. We believe this will provide clearer direction for officers, reduce ambiguity and enable them to focus on matters that meet the threshold for criminal investigations.”

www.thetimes.com/article/8126375b-2d4e-434c-a828-6876a990bcaf?shareToken=318bdc3f8684139b85bafada73954ba6

That's good to hear but it really sticks in my craw to hear the Met say that having being madly oppressive against a member of the public and being sorry 'n all, they're willing to compensate that member of the public with money from the public at large so their abuses can be ignored.

Rather than fining the public at large, I'd like to see people using the Met as a weapon for their own ideological ends to be held personally accountable.

This case prompted a significant change.
Graham Linehan can read that with pride, he brought about an important change.

What a nightmare for him. The process I mean. Good he’s received something.

Good news but need to add another zero to that number for everything that poor man has been though.

Good day for Graham, good day for common sense .

You mean they paid £25,000 of taxpayers money to GL. It’s time that employees who act in accordance with ideology rather than the law were fined from their own pay packets.

Yes sending 5 armed officers to arrest a public figure made them look like the idiots that they are. I'm glad GL has received compensation, they put him through hell for no reason, but if they've at least stopped doing that his suffering would have been worth.
I'm not so convinced that they've made significant changes though, they may have stopped investigating them but they're still recording every spiteful complaint.

I agree people should be held accountable. The public sector get away with far more than the private sector. That fine for their wrongdoing is paid for by the tax payer - it’s a disgrace.

All the people responsible should be made to contribute from their wages…

Don't think it's all over

https://archive.ph/uGdlD

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/10/14/linehan-gender-critical-views-may-have-led-to-arrest/

The Met have reopened the complaint after being telt by the IOPC.

This is really good news.

What became of the criminal damage of the mobile phone...?

I wonder if the investigation will reveal the names of the people responsible for ordering his arrest and who they might have been getting pressure from to do so. The plot thickens. 🧐

It's a shame for the Met he wasn't convicted. Then even if the conviction was overturned, there wouldn't be any compensation.

Terrible Telegraph article

"Anti-trans views could be a protective characteristic"

Guido Fawkes on the same IOPC statement refers to "Gender critical views could be a protective characteristic"

Spot the difference.

Graham was found not guilty of criminal damage at the appeal. He had already been found not guilty of harassment at the initial trial

Should bloody well think so, that was disgraceful.

Good for Graham.

I noticed that, they also used it a few days ago in an article that mentioned JKR iirc.

Yes the lazy and incorrect ‘anti-trans’.

This case prompted a significant change, which means the Met no longer investigates non-crime hate incidents. We believe this will provide clearer direction for officers, reduce ambiguity and enable them to focus on matters that meet the threshold for criminal investigations.”

What the fuck are they doing investigating non- crimes?

They should do themselves first wasting police time.

I thought he grabbed someone's mobile phone and threw it on the floor causing it to break....?

I wonder how it was not guilty

Well, lucky for you, there are a gazillion threads in FWR where you can follow the trial and the discussion of it l and find out why he wasn't found guilty

He was found innocent because there was insufficient evidence that the phone had been damaged by Glinner's actions.

I think it was successfully argued that the mobile was already damaged before the altercation.

Mr Linehan complained to the IOPC that his arrest had been unlawful because the police had failed to take into account Watson’s background.

This to me is the missing link.

They take tweets out of context. It's deliberate in my opinion, but if the Met can be forced to show how they reached their conclusions, then any bias will be revealed.