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The Metropolitan Police have issued an apology to Irish comedian and campaigner Graham Linehan, acknowledging the significant distress caused by his arrest relating to posts he made on the social media platform X in September 2025. Linehan was detained by five armed officers at Heathrow Airport on suspicion of inciting hatred under the Public Order Act as he returned from Arizona. The BBC has learned that an out-of-court settlement of approximately £25,000 has been agreed.
Responding to the news via video, Linehan, who currently resides in Arizona, described the compensation as “very handy” due to his ongoing battle against what he terms “this madness.” A Met spokesperson expressed recognition of the distress experienced by Linehan and extended a formal apology. This marks the second apology from the police; an initial apology was issued in May, prior to the announcement of the settlement.
Following his arrest, concerns over Linehan’s health led to him being taken to hospital after officers measured his blood pressure. The police later clarified that his condition was “neither life-threatening nor life-changing,” and granted him bail while the investigation continued. The incident for which Linehan was arrested was later reclassified as a non-crime hate incident, a category used to record alleged acts motivated by hostility or prejudice but which do not constitute criminal offences.
The arrest triggered debate among politicians and public figures about the boundaries of free speech and police powers. Subsequently, in October 2025, the Metropolitan Police declared that they would no longer investigate non-crime hate incidents to allow officers to dedicate resources to cases meeting the threshold for criminal investigation. The inquiry into Linehan’s case was officially dropped at this time. During an interview with the BBC in September, Linehan stated that he did not regret his posts, despite acknowledging that some were written out of frustration and anger. The three posts that led to his arrest included controversial statements about transgender people and provocative language targeting misogynists and homophobes.
Linehan received support from the Free Speech Union during the civil claim. The organization welcomed the apology and compensation but emphasized that the arrest itself should never have occurred. In a statement, the union’s general secretary, Lord Toby Young, highlighted that this was the third case in which they had helped a member obtain compensation for wrongful arrest. He stressed the importance of police acknowledging that causing offence or upsetting someone should not automatically be treated as a criminal offence. Lord Young also expressed approval of the Met’s decision to stop investigating non-crime hate incidents and called on authorities to discontinue arresting people over social media activity, especially given the number of unsolved crimes.
This development follows a separate legal victory for Linehan just two months prior, when his conviction related to damaging a transgender activist’s mobile phone was overturned
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