In a turn of events surrounding a prominent transgender activist, Lynsay Watson, known for her previous allegations against Father Ted co-writer Graham Linehan, has been arrested outside a courtroom in connection to a different matter altogether. The arrest took place near the Manchester Civil Justice Centre, where Watson’s appearance drew considerable online attention.

Lynsay Watson, who once served as a police officer, was dismissed from Leicestershire Police in 2023 due to charges of gross misconduct, specifically related to the harassment of a free speech advocate critical of gender ideology. This previous incident adds a layer of complexity to her current legal challenges.

The arrest occurred after Watson attended an oral permissions hearing. The hearing was part of her efforts to seek a judicial review of a decision by Cambridgeshire Police not to pursue charges against Helen Joyce. Joyce was accused of misgendering Freda Wallace, another transgender activist.

Following the court session, authorities arrested Watson based on outstanding warrants tied to allegations of online harassment. This arrest further complicates her legal standing as she navigates these multiple, high-profile controversies.

Watson’s past includes accusations of having brought Graham Linehan to the attention of police over his social media activity. This led to his arrest at Heathrow Airport last September, underscoring the contentious nature of the broader debates over free speech and gender identity.

The ex-police officer was previously accused of reporting Linehan to police over posts on X that prompted the writer’s arrest at Heathrow airport last September.

Linehan later had action against him dropped. He was convicted last November, in a different case, of criminal damage after throwing a phone belonging to 18-year-old Sophia Brooks, though was cleared of harassment.

Watson had posted on X under the account name ‘SEEN police OFFICIAL Open Public Network’ before this was suspended. A subsequent similar account on rival platform Bluesky also no longer exists.

Watson is alleged to have harassed computer games writer and pro-Scottish independence campaigner Stuart Campbell, whose account on X goes by the title Wings Over Scotland.

Mr Campbell wrote in posts to his 82,200 followers: ‘So, some good news. After months of avoiding arrest warrants by hiding, disgraced former policeman and serial plaguer of gender-critical people Lynsay Watson was finally apprehended this week at Manchester Civil Justice Centre, on suspicion of criminal harassment against me.

‘He was at the court pursuing one of his countless attempts to get gender-critical people imprisoned, Wings got wind of it in advance, and we alerted Greater Manchester Police who went there and arrested him on an outstanding warrant from a complaint I made last year.’

Mr Campbell added that Watson was questioned then released on bail. 

Meanwhile, 57-year-old Linehan shared messages on his own X account, which has 653,400 recorded followers.

Linehan posted: ‘Finally! This is the guy who got me arrested at the airport, finding out.’

He then added, amid further posts picturing Watson: ‘Hope it was worth it, pal.’ 

Greater Manchester Police has been contacted for comment. 

Watson was sacked for gross misconduct by Leicestershire Constabulary in October 2023 after trolling another free speech campaigner online, branding him a woman beater and a Nazi.

Watson has also been behind a large number of legal challenges related to gender and trans rights, including against three police forces, British Transport Police Federation and the Ministry of Defence.

Watson sent former police officer Harry Miller more than 1,200 messages over an 18-month period, describing him as a fascist and a bigot and labelled his campaign group Fair Cop ‘domestic terrorists’.

Ex-PC Watson targeted Mr Miller because his views about gender identity were ‘in direct contradiction to her own’ a police misconduct panel was told.

In the messages Watson made ‘factual assertions that Mr Miller was violent towards women’.

The panel heard Watson initially sent messages as a police officer – prompting Mr Miller to complain to Leicestershire Police.

Watson spoke to a senior officer who advised to post anonymously instead using a pseudonym, a disciplinary panel was told.

Watson went on to set up at least four different accounts with fake names, including one claiming to be a retired officer from another force as well as a Home Office adviser on policing and transgender issues with a masters in legal studies.

Watson, a former nurse, admitted gross misconduct but denied breaching standards relating to honesty and integrity.

Force solicitor Liz Briggs, outlining the case, told the panel it was clear Watson and Mr Miller were at ‘polar opposites’ in their views about gender ideology.

She said Watson was ‘entirely entitled to strongly disagree with Mr Miller and of course vice versa’ but as a police officer, must treat the public with respect and courtesy.

She said the messages were ‘derogatory and abusive’.

Mrs Briggs said the messages were ‘intentional, deliberate, targeted and planned’.

She added: ‘An officer who is abusive towards individuals when their ideologies clash is undoubtedly going to cause significant harm to public confidence.’

Watson claimed to be acting on behalf of the persecuted LGBTQ community and posted anonymously to gather evidence about unknown officers, believing they were members of Fair Cop.

But panel chair Kate Meynell, Chief Constable of Nottinghamshire Police, said that when considering the contents of the post it ‘is not clear how they would be a way of gathering evidence’.

Ms Meynell said: ‘I find that the officer’s conduct does amount to gross misconduct. It was inevitable PC Watson’s conduct would impact on the reputation of Leicestershire police and police generally.’ 

She said she accepted that Watson had ‘deeply held views on the subject’.

But Ms Meynell said Watson’s conduct ‘had a significant effect on the reputation of the force, policing generally and our public trust’.

Linehan, who moved last year to Arizona, saying he was working on new comedy projects alongside US actor Rob Schneider, has been prominent online over the past decade as a gender critical campaigner, raising concerns about trans issues.

Linehan was told last October he faced no further police action over anti-trans tweets that saw him arrested at an airport. 

The Irish comedy writer, 57, was met by armed police when he touched down at Heathrow Airport from Arizona and detained on suspicion of inciting violence.

He later declared he would no longer want to return to Britain after his arrest that was met with fury from high-profile figures such as Harry Potter author JK Rowling who came to his support by branding the detention ‘utterly deplorable’.

Linehan, who also co-wrote and directed sitcoms such as Black Books, The IT Crowd and Count Arthur Strong, was detained in relation to three tweets which police deemed to warrant an arrest on suspicion of inciting violence.

The first, from April 20, read: ‘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.’

A second tweet, on April 19, was a picture of a trans rally with the caption: ‘A photo you can smell.’ The third was a follow-up to this tweet which said: ‘I hate them. Misogynists and homophobes. F*** em.’

The writer was heard audibly fuming in disbelief when he was stopped by armed officers at the west London airport.

He told them: ‘I’m a f***ing comedy writer, I wrote Father Ted. Are you a f***ing idiot? It’s just disgraceful.’

When told he was under arrest, Linehan shouted: ‘Holy s***, I don’t f***ing believe it, do you know what this country looks like to America?,’ before telling them: ‘I’m going to sue you into the ground’.

He called the officers ‘f***ing b******s’ and shouted ‘how dare you’ before they urged him to calm down.

Shortly afterwards, Linehan can be heard saying: ‘I’m f***ing infuriated. You scumbags are working for f***ing a*******s who go into women’s toilets.’

After his arrest, the writer claimed he was escorted to A&E ‘because the stress nearly killed me’ – adding that his blood pressure was recorded at over 200mm Hg by a nurse.

He subsequently told the Times that the Metropolitan Police’s move to arrest him at Heathrow was the ‘greatest mistake they could have made’.

Linehan said he was stopped by five armed police officers, although it is understood this was because they were from the Met’s Aviation unit – routinely carrying firearms.

Gender critical activist Rowling leapt to Linehan’s defence weeks after he accused her of failing to back him when saying he was ‘cancelled’ for similar views.

She posted last September in response to Linehan’s Heathrow arrest: ‘What the f*** has the UK become? This is totalitarianism. Utterly deplorable.’ 

He had previously told the Spiked podcast she failed to defend his right to free speech when he received backlash over his comments regarding trans people, saying Rowling’s ‘silence’ made him feel ‘toxic’ and isolated. 

Prolific tweeter Linehan recalled how, when Rowling became embroiled in the row over SNP’s self identification reforms, he said he felt as though he could ‘finally relax’ and ‘fight back’ as someone was on his side.

He added in the August 2025 interview: ‘And now her silence about me is just added to the feeling that, that I’ve done something wrong – that I’m toxic and I know I am toxic, but it’s not because I’ve done anything wrong.

‘It’s because people, people like JK Rowling won’t stand up in defence of me. So it wasn’t just the [trans rights activist] side pushing me out.

‘It was a feeling of lack of solidarity and the kind of an embarrassment at my presence in the fight.’

Updating followers on his Heathrow arrest, Linehan later posted on X last October: ‘The police have informed my lawyers that I face no further action in respect of the arrest at Heathrow in September.

‘After a successful hearing to get my bail conditions lifted (one which the police officer in charge of the case didn’t even bother to attend) the Crown Prosecution Service has dropped the case.

‘With the aid of the Free Speech Union, I still aim to hold the police accountable for what is only the latest attempt to silence and suppress gender critical voices on behalf of dangerous and disturbed men.’

A Crown Prosecution Service spokesperson said: ‘Following careful review of a file submitted by the Metropolitan Police, we have decided that no further action should be taken in relation to a man in his 50s who was arrested on 1 September 2025.’