The co-creator of Father Ted, Graham Lineham, has been charged with criminal damage and harassment.
The sitcom writer will be appearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court next month following the charges.
These are reportedly related to an alleged incident at a festival called Battle of Ideas in October 19, 2024.
According to its website, the event allows people to debate issues facing society in a ‘full and frank manner’.
As well as Father Ted, the 56-year-old was also behind the sitcoms Black Books, and The IT Crowd, and has written for shows including Count Arthur Strong, Brass Eye and The Fast Show.
Recently he’s been critical of the trans-right movement and also claimed his career and marriage were ruined because of his gender-critical views.
Following the charges, he told the Mirror : ‘This is part of a long history of the police acting as a goon squad for trans rights activists.’
He went on to make a number of allegations about the alleged victim, adding that he took ed forward to ‘exposing him and them in court’.
The sitcom writer will be appearing at Westminster Magistrates Court following the charges
Lineham is one of the creators behind the sitcom Father Ted, pictured
He previously praised the Supreme Court’s decision to confirm that the word woman was based on biological sex
He previously praised the Supreme Court’s decision to confirm that the word woman was based on biological sex.
Linehan said trans women should be excluded from women’s spaces as they were not women – a view that has now been backed up by the Supreme Court.
But although he hailed the Supreme Court decision, he said the war on woke has only just begun.
Last week, the Supreme Court announced that the definition of a woman is based on biological sex in a landmark judgement.
Lord Hodge said five Supreme Court justices had unanimously decided that ‘the terms ”woman” and ”sex” in the Equality Act refer to a biological woman and biological sex’.
In an 88-page ruling, the justices said: ‘The definition of sex in the Equality Act 2010 makes clear that the concept of sex is binary, a person is either a woman or a man.’ The decision could have far-reaching implications on how sex-based rights apply, including how women-only spaces are allowed to operate.
In his judgement, Lord Hodge recognised ‘the strength of feeling on both sides’ and cautioned against seeing the judgement as a triumph for one side over another, stressing that the law still gives trans people protection against discrimination.
Speaking to MailOnline, Linehan described the moment he realised the judge had ruled in favour of biology – and revealed his hopes for his own comedy comeback.
He said: ‘I was in the courtroom. The judge said we had to respect the court and not have any reaction. When we heard it, you could feel the crackle go around the room. The moment the judge left, it just sunk in that we won after 10 years of fighting this nonsense. It’s good news but this is only one issue in a lot of woke issues.’
