"Father Ted" creator Graham Linehan "arrested" for "tweets about trans issues"

Linehan also said that he is no longer allowed post on Twitter/X as part of his bail conditions.

The Irish comedian was flying from Arizona to London and alleges that he was treated like a "terrorist" after being detained as soon as he stepped off the plane.

Linehan’s career has been overshadowed in recent years due to his controversial social media posts.

He claims that he was escorted to a private area in Heathrow, where he was informed he was "under arrest for three tweets".

The 57-year-old shared the tweets that he claims got him in trouble in a blog post.

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 this tweet, which said: "I hate them. Misogynists and homophobes. F*** em."

On his blog, Linehan wrote: "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…

"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…

"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 claims he was later escorted to A&E "because the stress nearly killed me", adding that his blood pressure was recorded at over 200mmHg by a nurse.

He said that he was under observation for eight hours afterwards.

Linehan also claims that when he handed over his passport in Arizona, officials told him he did not have a seat and had to be re-ticketed. 

He wrote: "At the time, I thought it was just the sort of innocent snafu that makes air travel such a joy. But in hindsight, it was clear I’d been flagged."

* This article was originally published on Extra.ie.