Father Ted Linehan in court

TV comedy writer denies harassing trans woman and damaging phone

- BY PATRICK HILL

FATHER Ted co-creator Graham Linehan grabbed a trans woman's phone and threw it across a road while calling her 'a groomer", a court heard.

The five-time Bafta winner, 57, denies harassing Sophia Brooks, 18, and causing £369 in criminal damage to her phone.

Ms Brooks told the court: "I demanded he give me my phone back and he said, 'Go and get your f***ing phone', and threw it into the road."

The court heard Ms Brooks approached Linehan while filming outside an event, which she had been thrown out of, and demanded to know why he had branded her "a domestic terrorist" in an online post.