{"id":604875,"date":"2026-05-20T18:18:45","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T18:18:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=604875"},"modified":"2026-05-20T18:18:45","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T18:18:45","slug":"uk-police-issue-apology-after-arresting-father-ted-creator-over-online-opinions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=604875","title":{"rendered":"UK police issue apology after arresting \u201cFather Ted\u201d creator over online opinions"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>\n

In a refreshing update, an Irish comedy writer arrested over social media posts received an apology from UK police.<\/p>\n

Graham Linehan, creator of \u201cFather Ted,\u201d and a staunch critic of gender ideology, filed a formal complaint against the Metropolitan Police after his arrest at Heathrow Airport in September 2025. Linehan, who lives in Arizona, was detained by five armed officers at the time on suspicion of inciting violence over anti-transgender comments he posted on social media.<\/p>\n

Though charges did not end up being pressed against him, Lineham fought back with his own legal action, and five months after an investigation, the Met Police apologized.<\/p>\n

\n

This, from the \u2018apology\u2019 I received from the police, doesn\u2019t sound like an apology: \u201cThe Met concluded that while the arrest was lawful, aspects of the investigation were flawed and misunderstood, with officers focusing on the anti-transgender nature of Linehan\u2019s posts and\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 Graham Linehan (@Glinner) May 18, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cI apologize to Mr Linehan for the shortcomings in this investigation,\u201d Met Police Inspector Matt Hume said, according to The Telegraph, citing the police report. \u201cThe Met Police remains committed to lawful, proportionate policing and to learning from failings when they arise.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI accept that the service provided was not acceptable and recognize the distress and impact this matter has caused Mr. Linehan,\u201d he added. \u201cI therefore accept that, at times, both the investigation and arrest phases lacked the diligence one would expect from the MPS [Metropolitan Police Service].\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"\ud83d\udce3\"\"\ud83d\udea8\"GRAHAM LINEHAN ACQUITTED OF CRIMINAL DAMAGE<\/p>\n

\u201cThe decision of the Court to throw out this case , is very welcome \u2013 but this case should never have got to court.<\/p>\n

There has been a troubling pattern of police forces around the country to \u2018believe\u2019 trans-rights activists, time\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/AJIuYnxOWP<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 The Free Speech Union (@SpeechUnion) May 1, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cNone of the officers involved in the case faces any sanction other than \u2018learning through reflection\u2019 but Scotland Yard has committed to changing the way it handles future hate-crime allegations involving high-profile people,\u201d the outlet reported.<\/p>\n

The Free Speech Union (FSU), which backed Linehan\u2019s legal case, called it \u201can unacceptable interference in his right to free speech\u201d and welcomed the apology.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe look forward to working with the Met Police and other police services to ensure their response to complaints about social media posts in future has due regard to freedom of expression,\u201d Lord Young of Acton, the general secretary of FSU, said in a statement to The Telegraph.<\/p>\n

\n

\"\ud83d\udce3\"\"\ud83d\udea8\" FSU MEMBER TESTIMONIAL: Graham Linehan<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t have been able to do any of this without the Free Speech Union.\u201d<\/p>\n

In this week\u2019s instalment of the FSU Member Testimonial series, Graham Linehan speaks about the support he has received from the Free Speech Union.<\/p>\n

For more\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/QhvGrWKZ0y<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 The Free Speech Union (@SpeechUnion) May 19, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\nLinehan spoke before the House Judiciary Committee in February on the topic of European online censorship laws.<\/p>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a refreshing update, an Irish comedy writer arrested over social media posts received an apology from UK police. Graham Linehan, creator of \u201cFather Ted,\u201d and a staunch critic of gender ideology, filed a formal complaint against the Metropolitan Police after his arrest at Heathrow Airport in September 2025. Linehan, who lives in Arizona, was… Continue reading UK police issue apology after arresting \u201cFather Ted\u201d creator over online opinions<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":604876,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[17,22,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-604875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-border-security","category-immigration","category-immigration-reform","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=604875"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604875\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/604876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=604875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=604875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=604875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}