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The Met police have said they will no longer investigate non-crime hate incidents as the Father Ted co-creator Graham Linehan was informed that no further action would be taken after his arrest over social media posts.
Five armed officers detained the 57-year-old comedy writer at Heathrow in September on suspicion of inciting violence in relation to three posts about trans issues.
Linehan said on Monday that the Crown Prosecution Service had dropped the case against him, but that he intended to sue the Met over a claim of wrongful arrest and breach of his human rights.
“The police have informed my lawyers that I face no further action in respect of the arrest at Heathrow in September,” he said in a social media post.
“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.”
The Met police said in a statement that they understood the public concern over the controversial case and that it had led to a decision to stop investigating non-crime hate incidents – those perceived by a complainant to be motivated by hostility towards a particular characteristic, such as transgender identity, race or religion.
They are not criminal offences but have until now been investigated by the Met, which is the country’s largest police force.
Linehan was arrested over a potential criminal offence, but it was later downgraded to an investigation into a non-crime hate incident, it is understood.
The Met will continue to record non-crime hate incidents to assess potential community tensions.
A spokesperson said: “We understand the concern around this case. The commissioner has been clear he doesn’t believe officers should be policing toxic culture war debates, with current laws and rules on inciting violence online leaving them in an impossible position.
“As a result, the Met will no longer investigate non-crime hate incidents. We believe this will provide clearer direction for officers, reduce ambiguity and enable them to focus on matters that meet the threshold for criminal investigations.
“These incidents will still be recorded and used as valuable pieces of intelligence to establish potential patterns of behaviour or criminality.
“We will continue to investigate and arrest those who commit hate crimes – allowing us to comply with statutory guidance while focusing our resources on criminality and public protection.”
Linehan was questioned on suspicion of a public order offence relating to his post after his arrest last month.
It sparked a free-speech row which prompted the prime minister, Keir Starmer, to say at the time that the police should focus on the most serious issues.
In one of the three tweets cited by police at the time of Linehan’s arrest as evidence of an alleged crime, he had written: “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.”
Another was a photograph of a trans-rights protest, with the comment “a photo you can smell”, and a follow-up post which read: “I hate them. Misogynists and homophobes. F*** em.”
The Free Speech Union said it had instructed lawyers to sue the Met for wrongful arrest on Linehan’s behalf.
Its general secretary, Toby Young, said: “I’m glad the police have dropped the case, but it should have been obvious there was no case to answer in the first place. Graham should never have been interviewed about his tweets, let alone arrested by five armed police officers and held in a cell for over 12 hours.
“We’ve instructed a top flight team of lawyers to sue the Met for wrongful arrest, among other things. Graham deserves an apology and the police must be made to pay a price so they stop behaving like the Stasi.”
