Arabic version: شرطة العاصمة تعتذر وتتوصل إلى تسوية مع غراهام لاينهان بشأن اعتقاله على إكس

According to BBC News, the Metropolitan Police have apologised to comedian and campaigner Graham Linehan and acknowledged his “considerable distress” for his arrest over posts on X in September 2025. The force said it had offered its “sincere apologies” and issued a second apology alongside a settlement.

Five armed Heathrow airport officers detained Linehan on suspicion of inciting hatred under the Public Order Act as he returned from Arizona. He was taken to hospital after officers became concerned for his health when they took his blood pressure; the police said his condition was “neither life-threatening nor life-changing” and he was bailed “pending further investigation”. The BBC understands a settlement has been reached, which is reported to be £25,000, and Linehan, who now lives in Arizona, said in a video the money will be “very handy” as he has been “fighting against this madness”.

Police later confirmed the incident that led to the arrest was investigated as a non-crime hate incident. A month after the arrest, in October 2025, the Met announced it would no longer investigate non-crime hate incidents to allow officers to “focus on matters that meet the threshold for criminal investigations” and said it was dropping the probe into Linehan. The arrest had sparked a mixture of reaction from politicians and public figures and prompted debate about policing and free speech.

Speaking to BBC News in September, Linehan said: “I don’t regret anything I’ve tweeted” and said he was arrested over three posts on his X account. The first post 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.” The second appeared to be an aerial shot of a group of protesters and he called it “a photo you can smell”. The third post expressed his views, saying “I hate them”, referring to “misogynists and homophobes” and adding an expletive.

Linehan was supported through the civil claim by the advocacy group the Free Speech Union. The union said it welcomed the second apology and settlement but argued he should not have been arrested. In a statement, general secretary Lord Toby Young said it was the union’s “third case in which we’ve helped a member of ours secure substantial compensation for wrongful arrest” and described the Met’s decision on non-crime hate incidents as a “positive development”. The BBC noted the settlement and apology come two months after Linehan had a conviction for damaging a transgender activist’s mobile phone overturned.