Graham Linehan, 57, has arrived at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, where he is due to face trial, accused of harassing transgender activist Sophia Brooks and damaging her phone.

As he arrived, he posed with a sign before going into court, which said on one side: “There’s no such thing as a ‘transgender child’” and on the other it said “Keep men out of women’s sports”. The comedy writer was arrested at Heathrow Airport on Monday on suspicion of inciting violence in three posts he had made on X about trans issues. He said he was detained by five officers after flying in from Arizona, before being taken to a cell and questioned about the social media posts. He has since shared the alleged offending posts, including one branding trans women in female-only spaces “violent”.

Linehan, who created Father Ted in the 1990s with fellow Irish writer Arthur Mathews, said in a post in April that the allegations were related to an incident at the Battle of Ideas conference in London on October 19. According to court documents, he is charged with harassing the alleged victim by posting abusive comments about her on social media between October 11 and October 27, and damaging her phone to the value of £369 on the day of the conference.

The writer has denied one count of harassing the activist on social media and a further charge of damaging her mobile phone in October.