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Father Ted, IT Crowd creator charged with harassment

By AAP Newswire

Apr 27, 2025

A file photo of Westminster Magistrates Court — Comedy writer Graham Linehan is due to face a London court in May charged with harrasment. -EPA

Father Ted co-creator Graham Linehan has been charged with harassment and criminal damage.

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The Irish comedy writer, 56, wrote on social media that the allegations were related to an incident at the Battle of Ideas conference in London in October.

The UK's Crown Prosecution Service confirmed Linehan has been charged with both harassment without violence, and criminal damage.

He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on May 12.

The Bafta-winning writer, who also came up with TV sitcoms The IT Crowd and Black Books, has become a strong vocal critic of the trans rights movement in recent years.

In a post on social media platform X, he said the charge related to a complaint from a trans activist.

In 2023, Linehan recalled in his book titled Tough Crowd: How I Made And Lost A Career In Comedy, that he lost his comedy career after he "championed an unfashionable cause".

Linehan created Father Ted in the 1990s with fellow Irish writer Arthur Mathews.