UK: Transgender Child Sex Offender Linked to Prosecution of Graham Linehan for Social Media Posts

By Genevieve Gluck

A litigious trans-identified male previously convicted of the sexual abuse of a minor was spotted attending the court case against comedy writer Graham Linehan, prompting speculation that he has been offering legal advice to the complainant in the proceedings. Stephanie Hayden, formerly known as Anthony Halliday, was recorded leaving the Westminster Magistrates’ Court September 4 alongside the teenage trans activist, Sophia Brooks, who brought the charges against Linehan.

Linehan, who is well known as the creator of popular sitcoms such as Father Ted and The IT Crowd, appeared in court last week to defend himself against charges of harassment without violence and criminal damage under £5000. The allegations date back to October 2024, when, the court was told, Linehan harassed Brooks on social media before damaging his phone after a Battle of Ideas conference in Westminster.

On X that month Linehan called Brooks a “deeply disturbed sociopath” and a “domestic terrorist” who was “behind countless episodes of harassment of women and gay men both online and off.” During recent court proceedings, Linehan refused to back down, saying, “He was misogynistic, he was abusive, he was snide.”

Reduxx has seen a dossier of evidence detailing Brooks’ sustained harassment which includes statements from six individuals in addition to Linehan. According to the document’s summary, Brooks has engaged in a variety of malicious behavior and has “doxxed several individuals, publishing private addresses and personal details with the intent to incite harassment and fear.”

The dossier outlines how Brooks has created false identities to infiltrate groups, engaged in relentless cyberstalking, and falsely accused individuals of crimes, including fabricating claims of sex offenses against one victim by manipulating online profiles.

A statement from women’s rights campaigner Venice Allan explains the events leading up to the altercation at the Battle of Ideas conference, and describes Brooks as a persistent source of harassment.

“Sophie initially came to my attention when he infiltrated a group I was involved in, pretending to be a female de-transitioner, while actually being a trans activist. Over the years, Sophie’s behavior became increasingly concerning,” Allan said.

“On several occasions, he would call me from withheld or strange international numbers, sometimes even having others speak on his behalf. These calls often involved Sophie making demands that I remove tweets or make public apologies, and the tone was frequently erratic and aggressive.”

During the Battle of Ideas conference, Allan said Brooks stood up and began taking photographs of attendees. His behavior “became increasingly intrusive” and “he pointed a camera directly into people’s faces,” and security was called to remove him. Brooks had been accompanied to the event by an older trans activist known as Freda Wallace, who has spoken publicly about his “lesbian penis,” and the two apparently have a relationship based on coordinated harassment campaigns.

After the conference had ended, Brooks approached Linehan outside the venue and began to record with his phone while taunting him. After Brooks made a derisive remark about his divorce, Linehan grabbed his phone and threw it into the road.

During an interview at Charing Cross Police Station conducted on February 5, Linehan stated, “there was repeated harassment by Tarquin of numerous people, including me. That typically involves placing a phone immediately in front of someone’s face, only a few inches away, and filming them whilst trying to provoke a reaction.”

“I had tried to ignore Tarquin as far as possible, but was then confronted by Tarquin again at the end of the conference. I presume that Tarquin was frustrated at not having been able to get some form of reaction from me, despite the repeated harassment. Tarquin then made a provocative statement about my current family position.”

“The nature of trans activism is that it is very male,” Linehan told the Magistrates court last week. “It’s abusive, it’s sadistic. The police are basically working for trans activists these days. They don’t understand the issue and they believe everything trans activists say to them. A lot of institutions have been captured by trans ideology.”

Leading up to the altercation, Brooks had developed a reputation within the London women’s rights community for turning up to various events critical of gender identity ideology. His repeated harassment of women at events has been documented on multiple occasions, with some tracking his disturbing behavior back as much as three years. In particular, Brooks would attempt to disrupt events put on by Let Women Speak and by the LGB Alliance, a habit which earned him the nickname “Tarquin” last March – a mocking nickname for a young and privileged man.

In October 2023, Brooks, then about 16 years old, was filmed at a LWS event accompanied by Wallace. The two men can be seen walking through Hyde Park with a speaker while playing, on loop, a recording of violent trans activist Sarah Jane Baker yelling, “If you see a TERF, punch them in the f*cking face!” The acronym stands for “trans exclusionary radical feminist” and is often used by trans activists as a slur to incite violence against women.

Baker, previously known as Alan, is known for being the UK’s longest serving trans-identified prisoner, having spent 30 years incarcerated for multiple violent crimes. Baker was initially sentenced to 9 years for kidnapping and torturing his stepmother’s brother, but, while in prison, he received additional time for attempting to murder a cellmate. Yet despite his criminal background, London Metropolitan Police refused to investigate him after he called for violence against “TERFs” during a 2023 Trans Pride rally in London.

One event attendee, who shared the footage of Brooks and Wallace playing Baker’s threat on loop, said that the teen had called her “pathetic,” and that the two men “repeatedly circled women attendees like sharks.”

On multiple occasions, Wallace and Brooks have harassed women who criticize gender identity ideology, with their preferred tactic involving placing their phones near an individual’s face and shooting video while antagonizing them. Brooks has also been accused of conducting prank calls, targeting women associated with LWS events.

Women’s rights activist and LWS lead organizer, Kellie-Jay Keen, shared details of her own experience of being harassed shortly after she attended Linehan’s hearing last week, while indicating that she believes Brooks was behind some of the harassment.

“For seven years I’ve been subjected to harassment, stalking, threats, and terror,” Keen wrote. “Graphic text messages about my children dying. Descriptions of my daughter’s bedroom. Dozens of calls in the early hours, including seven times on Christmas Day. Photos of my children being shared. Men turning up at my events to scream abuse at me. Threats that I would be attacked, terrified, and made to pay. A wish that I had been attacked with acid.”

“For most of this abuse, the evidence appears to point to one individual,” she continued. “I do not have the power to confirm that beyond doubt, but I have provided all the evidence to the police, and they do know who he is. An individual with close ties with much older deviants who have an unhealthy interest in children. They all behave in a provocative way in the hope of a response, a response they can use against you to destroy your life.”

Prior to Linehan’s hearing, concerned individuals had noticed Brooks and Hayden interacting on several occasions on X. In one instance, Hayden appears to be mocking Linehan in advance of the upcoming hearing, and has tagged in Brooks under his account @SanrioKeys.

As previously confirmed exclusively by Reduxx, Hayden pleaded guilty in 1999 to sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy he met through the internet.

According to court records and archived news reports reviewed by Reduxx, Hayden was found guilty of abusing the boy on at least two occasions in 1997, meeting with the victim and proceeding to “kiss and touch him” before driving him back to his parents’ house. Hayden accepted two charges of indecent assault in 1999, and was ordered by Judge Gerald Clifton to pay a £600 fine and to register as a sex offender for five years following the verdict.

During court proceedings, Judge Clifton remarked: “I’m told he was willing. Had this been a case of you seducing a boy and indulging in oral sex with him then whether he consented or not, whether in private or not, a short sentence of imprisonment would have been necessary.”

In addition to his repeated legal complaints against those critical of gender ideology, Hayden has raised concern amongst some users on social media due to a past post on notorious pedophile Jimmy Savile.

In 2012, just after the scandal surrounding Savile shook the United Kingdom, Hayden posted to X: “So what if Jimmy Savile was interviewed by police? Was not charged or convicted of anything. Due process does not die with suspect!”

But Hayden’s past criminal conduct, which includes another violent offense, has largely become obfuscated by his vocal trans advocacy. While Hayden previously identified as a gay man, he began transitioning in 2017 and has subsequently become a key proponent of pro-trans policy in the United Kingdom.

Hayden’s experience as a self-styled lawyer has enabled him to utilize the courts to silence those he accuses of “transphobia,” and he has gained a self-confessed reputation for being particularly litigious.

Hayden has initiated legal action against more than two dozen individuals over the years, often in an apparent effort to prevent them from referring to him as a “man,” or quashing speculations regarding his past criminal history.

On October 1, 2018, Hayden launched Britain’s first “deadnaming” case in London’s High Court against Linehan in response to an article he had authored exposing Hayden’s real name as Anthony Halliday.

Within days, Linehan was phoned at his home by police. Recalling the encounter to Reduxx, Linehan compared the officers to “gangsters” doing Hayden’s bidding. He stressed that it was not an official warning and was not formally recorded. Despite this, The Guardian published an article which leaned heavily in the favor of the convicted sex offender, and, as Linehan says, ultimately opened the floodgates for his public cancellation.

Referencing the situation, Linehan recently pointed out that Hayden has continued a years-long harassment campaign against him, including doxxing and publishing his home address.

As also noted by Linehan, Hayden has been following Brooks’ case against Graham for months. In May, Hayden alerted his followers of the date and time of the first hearing, and commented that Linehan was innocent “unless and until convicted.”

Commenting on the connection between Hayden and Brooks, renowned author J.K. Rowling remarked that their apparent relationship was alarming. Referring to Brooks, she said on X, “an apparently vulnerable youth hanging out with a convicted child sex offender raises red flags,” and reminded her followers of Hayden’s previous conviction for child sexual abuse.

For reporting on Hayden’s criminal background, Reduxx has also been threatened with legal action by the trans activist. After an exchange with the Liverpool Crown Court, Reduxx was able to obtain a court record verifying Hayden’s conviction for sexual abuse.

Since releasing the information in August 2023, Hayden has obtained a copy of the email exchanges between Reduxx and representatives of the court. For over a year, he has attempted to convince court officials that the certificate of his conviction was obtained illegally. Legal claims have been made against Reduxx editor-in-chief Anna Slatz, seeking an overturning of the decision to release the conviction certificate and a payout for damages.

Hayden has also emailed Reduxx staff in an attempt to intimidate lead investigative journalist Genevieve Gluck while accusing her of having “misled the Crown Court” in order to obtain the court record.

Speaking to Reduxx, Linehan said that despite his litigious harassment of over a dozen individuals, Hayden “appears to be untouchable.”

“Part of the problem is that the police seem to have him in a ring of protection. He never faces consequences for his actions. He’s allowed to taunt, torture, and torment his victims at his leisure. The Surrey Police seem especially enamored of him, and take part in his harassment campaigns.”

Hayden has repeatedly published claims of personal interactions with Surrey Police. In 2022, he claimed that law enforcement called him at his home to inform him of an arson threat, and added: “Surrey Police also informed me that they had made immediate contact with the Metropolitan Police (my local force) to inform them of the situation and request that a marker be placed against my home address to ensure a priority response if the need should arise.”

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Genevieve Gluck
Genevieve Gluck
Genevieve is the Co-Founder of Reduxx, and the outlet's Chief Investigative Journalist with a focused interest in pornography, sexual predators, and fetish subcultures. She is the creator of the podcast Women's Voices, which features news commentary and interviews regarding women's rights.
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