The Met Police have now confirmed Father Ted creator Graham Linehan was arrested at Heathrow Airport in ‘relation to posts on X.’
The Irish comedy writer – best known for creating Father Ted and The IT Crowd – was flying to London from Arizona when he was allegedly arrested ‘for three tweets.’
He wrote on his blog: ‘The moment I stepped off the plane at Heathrow, five armed police officers were waiting. Not one, not two—five. They escorted me to a private area and told me I was under arrest for three tweets.’
The Met Police confirmed to Metro: ‘On Monday, 1 September at 13:00hrs officers arrested a man at Heathrow Airport after he arrived on an inbound American Airlines flight.
‘The man in his 50s was arrested on suspicion of inciting violence. This is in relation to posts on X.
‘After being taken to police custody, officers became concerned for his health and he was taken to hospital. His condition is neither life-threatening nor life-changing.
‘He has now been bailed pending further investigation.’
Later in the post, Linehan wrote of his experience: ‘I was arrested at an airport like a terrorist, locked in a cell like a criminal, taken to hospital because the stress nearly killed me, and banned from speaking online—all because I made jokes that upset some psychotic crossdressers.
‘To me, this proves one thing beyond doubt: the UK has become a country that is hostile to freedom of speech, hostile to women, and far too accommodating to the demands of violent, entitled, abusive men who have turned the police into their personal goon squad.’
Linehan also shared that the incident caused his blood pressure to spike, writing: ‘Eventually, a nurse came to check on me and found my blood pressure was over 200—stroke territory.
The laws surrounding ‘inciting violence’ in the UK
In the UK, incitement to violence falls under a mix of criminal law and specific legislation around hate speech, terrorism, and public order.
Penalties: Conviction can lead to fines or imprisonment, with severity depending on context (e.g., terrorism offences can carry lengthy prison terms).
General principle: Encouraging or assisting others to commit crimes — including violence — is itself a crime under the Serious Crime Act 2007. This applies even if the violence does not actually happen.
Public Order offences: Under the Public Order Act 1986, it is illegal to use threatening, abusive, or insulting words or behaviour with the intention of stirring up violence or hatred, or if it is likely to cause such outcomes.
Terrorism-related incitement: The Terrorism Act 2006 makes it an offence to directly or indirectly encourage terrorism, including the glorification of terrorist acts, which could incite others to violence.
Threshold: Courts look at whether the speech or act was intended, or was likely, to encourage violence. Importantly, actual violence doesn’t have to occur for the offence to be committed.
‘The stress of being arrested for jokes was literally threatening my life! So I was escorted to A&E, where I write this now after spending about eight hours under observation.’
He also shared the X posts that he claimed the police were detaining him about.
One from April 20 said: ‘If a trans-identified male is in a female-only space, he is committing a violent, abusive act. Make a scene, call the cops and if all else fails, punch him in the balls.’
A second tweet, on April 19, was a picture of a trans rally with the caption: ‘A photo you can smell.’
The third was a follow up to the picture of the rally that read: ‘I hate them. Misogynists and homophobes. F*** em.’
Linehan has become well known for his anti-trans views.
He has previously compared trans children to ‘Nazi’ experiments’ and branded trans rights activism ‘evil.’
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