Father Ted co-creator Graham Linehan has been given a verbal harassment warning by British police after being reported by a trans activist over social media comments.
West Yorkshire Police spoke to the writer and told him to cease contacting Stephanie Hayden, with whom he has rowed on Twitter.
Ms Hayden reported him for “transphobia” after he referred to her as “he” and by names she used before she transitioned.
On Saturday, Linehan told the Press Association: “The police asked me to stop contacting someone I had no intention of contacting.
"It was a bit like asking me to never contact Charlie Sheen. "
Ms Hayden, a 45-year-old from Leeds, is also suing the 50-year-old Irish writer, who was behind Black Books and The IT Crowd, in the UK High Court.
Linehan, who lives in Norfolk, has sent tweets calling her Tony and Steven, references to her former names.
As included in Ms Hayden’s lawsuit, Linehan also tweeted: “I don’t respect the pronouns of misogynists, stalkers or harassers, and Tony is all three.”
These claims are refuted by Ms Hayden.
Ms Hayden said: “I don’t take kindly to a public figure tweeting about me referring to me as a man and putting my legal name in quotation marks to suggest it’s not valid.”
British police can issue harassment warnings to deter individuals from further behaviour. They are not convictions or cautions, but they do appear in enhanced criminal records checks. – PA
