Father Ted creator Graham Linehan was absolutely furious when police officers arrested him at Heathrow Airport after he returned from America. The comedy writer told GB News that five officers were waiting as he stepped off the plane on 1 September.

"Don't tell me trans activists sent you," he said immediately upon seeing them flanking the aircraft doorway.

The arrest related to posts on X from April about his views on challenging what he called "a trans-identified male" in "a female-only space". Mr Linehan went ballistic at being detained for what he saw as defending women's rights.

"I was absolutely disgusted—I went nuts. I was furious," he told GB News.

Graham Linehan spoke out on GB News about his arrest

He demanded to know how Britain looked to America and what Americans thought of the country.

The officers actually treated him decently, taking him to a quiet spot to avoid embarrassing him. But Mr Linehan's rage was so intense they thought about putting handcuffs on him.

"Please, just let me calm down. You are not bringing me through an airport in handcuffs for defending women's rights," he told them.

The officers went away to discuss it and came back with a compromise. They'd bring a van around the back of the airport instead.

Mr Linehan joined Josh Howie to discuss his ordeal

Mr Linehan thought that sounded reasonable at first. But when they opened the vehicle's rear doors, he discovered he'd have to sit in a tiny cell inside.

"Like I was a criminal," he said about being transported in the confined space within the police van.

The Metropolitan Police arrested him over three specific posts from April on X. In one, he wrote that if someone he described as "a trans-identified male" entered "a female-only space", it constituted "a violent, abusive act". The post continued by suggesting people should "make a scene, call the cops and if all else fails, punch him in the balls".

During his police interview, Mr Linehan insisted the "punch" comment was "a serious point made with a joke" about height differences between men and women. He maintained it wasn't calling for violence.

Graham Linehan has long been outspoken in his views on trans rights

Another post showed an aerial photograph of protesters that he captioned "a photo you can smell". The third expressed hatred towards people he called "misogynists and homophobes", using strong language.

The police took him to hospital after becoming worried about his health when they checked his blood pressure. The Met confirmed a man in his 50s was taken to hospital, saying his condition was "neither life-threatening nor life-changing".

He's now out on bail with strict conditions. The main one? He can't go on Twitter at all while the investigation continues.

The Irish writer, who also created The IT Crowd and Black Books, wrote about his experience on Substack. He shared screenshots of the posts that got him arrested and explained his side of the story.

He's also dealing with a separate harassment charge and has to appear in court on Thursday.

The arrest sparked fierce criticism from Conservative politicians. Party leader Kemi Badenoch slammed the police response, saying that sending five officers to arrest someone over a tweet was "politics" rather than proper policing.

She argued that under Labour, serious crimes like burglary and knife attacks went unsolved while resources got wasted on "thought-policing".

The Conservatives would end this "nonsense" immediately and make public safety the priority instead of "pandering to fringe ideologies", she said.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp called it "totally disproportionate", especially when police often ignored shoplifting, phone theft and car theft. He branded it an "absurd infringement of free speech" and said police should focus on catching actual criminals.

Author JK Rowling also joined the backlash, though Downing Street rejected her claim that Britain had become "totalitarian".