Father Ted creator Graham Linehan has been awarded the sum of £25,000 in compensation from The Metropolitan Police over ‘shortcomings’ in their investigation into him
Father Ted creator Graham Linehan has been awarded £25,000 compensation from The Metropolitan Police. The sitcom creator was arrested in September last year on suspicion of inciting violence after an activist complained about his posts.
Upon arrival at Heathrow Airport after a flight from Arizona, he was questioned regarding three posts he had made on X, formerly known as Twitter. Linehan has shared gender-critical posts on Elon Musk’s microblogging platform.
But now, Scotland Yard have issued compensation to Linehan and stated that there had been “shortcomings in the investigation, the arrest and the imposition of bail conditions.”
While detained, he suffered high blood pressure and was subsequently admitted to the hospital. He was later released and placed on restrictive bail conditions, which prohibited him from posting on X.
Linehan, with support from Free Speech Union, later launched legal action against the Met, citing a wrongful arrest and breach of his free speech rights.
Just weeks ago, in May, the Met issued an unreserved apology to Linehan, and this week they repeated it and agreed to pay him £25,000 in compensation.
In a letter, seen by The Telegraph, a senior officer in the force said: “Whilst there can be no doubt that all officers acted in good faith throughout and were seeking to do their best in the circumstances, the investigation identified shortcomings in both the investigation, arrest and imposition of bail conditions.”
The letter reportedly adds: “We apologise to you for those shortcomings and for the distress and inconvenience which he suffered as a result.” Linehan told the publication that the compensation would be beneficial as he had been “on his uppers” over the last few years.
When approached by the Mirror, 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.”
Lord Young of Acton, general secretary of The Free Speech Union, told GB News of the compensation: “I’m beginning to lose count of the number of cases we’ve fought in which the police have arrested someone for a tweet, decided to take no further action and then had to pay them substantial compensation for wrongful arrest.”
On October 20, he was informed that after the investigation, he wouldn’t face any further action. Linehan now lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he has attempted to rebuild his career. During his interview with well-known podcast host Joe Rogan, he revealed that he had been granted a three-year visa, which he hopes will lead to a permanent green card.
He explained: “[Comedy actor and writer] Rob Schneider has shown me incredible kindness and brought me over to work on a few projects… My visa’s three years, and my aim is to make myself so useful to the Americans that they won’t let me go!”
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