The court heard he misgendered her in a message, which said: “He is a deeply disturbed sociopath, and I believe he had some involvement in Friday’s homophobic attack.”<\/p>\n
Giving evidence, Ms Brooks told the court she felt “alarmed and distressed”.<\/p>\n
“I was being branded as a deeply disturbed sociopath by a relatively famous person with over 500,000 followers – any of which could see Mr Linehan’s post and cause great harm to me,” she told the court.<\/p>\n
Mr Linehan met the activist for the first time in person outside the Battle of Ideas conference in Westminster on 19 October last year.<\/p>\n
Video shown to the court appeared to show the pair engaged in a verbal altercation and Linehan grabbing Ms Brooks’ phone.<\/p>\n
‘Disgusting incel’<\/strong><\/p>\n The transgender activist said Mr Linehan had called her a “sissy porn-watching scumbag”, a “groomer”, and a “disgusting incel”, which prompted her to respond, “you’re the incel, you’re divorced”.<\/p>\n The court heard Mr Linehan subsequently posted a message on 19 October allegedly referring to Ms Brooks as an “absolute psycho”, and in another post on 24 October wrote “he’s also a scumbag who harasses women”, the prosecution said.<\/p>\n Read more from Sky News: Ms Faure Walker told the court Mr Linehan, who was interviewed under caution on 5 February, provided a prepared statement in which he said Ms Brooks “had harassed him, by approaching him and filming him at close quarters”.<\/p>\n Linehan was ‘provoked’<\/strong><\/p>\n “The complainant provoked him and made a provocative statement; put the phone in his face; he grabbed the phone and threw it to the side; it was a reflex response,” she added about the prepared statement.<\/p>\n “In relation to the online posts, the defendant did not accept it amounted to harassment; as a journalist – as he described himself – he believed exposing tactics of trans activities was in the public interest,” Ms Faure Walker added.<\/p>\n The trial continues. The court has not yet heard a formal defence from Mr Linehan.<\/p>\n Before entering into Westminster Magistrates’ Court, he posed with a sign bearing the message: “There’s no such thing as a ‘transgender<\/a><\/strong> child'”.<\/p>\n On the other side, it read: “Keep men out of women’s sports”.<\/p>\n Image: Mr Linehan has become a vocal critic of the trans rights movement in recent years.<\/p>\n After a court hearing in May, in which he pleaded not guilty to the charges<\/a><\/strong>, he said he had “lost a great deal” but “will not waver in my resolve”.<\/p>\n
Analysis: Policing social media posts<\/a>
Reform to vote on transgender prisoners<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n![\"He](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/skynews-transgender-harassment_7010845.jpg\"){kind=spacer}
<\/p>\n
\n He posed with a sign outside court with the message: ‘There’s no such thing as a ‘transgender child’<\/p>\n