Father Ted creator Graham Linehan has received a staggering £25,000 compensation from The Metropolitan Police following his arrest last year. The Channel 4 sitcom creator was taken away by police last September on suspicion of inciting violence after an activist complained about his social media posts. After touching down at Heathrow Airport from Arizona, he was questioned about three posts he had shared on X - formerly known as Twitter.

In 2024, Linehan shared several gender-critical posts on Elon Musk's platform. But now, Scotland Yard have issued compensation to the show creator and stated that there had been "shortcomings in the investigation, the arrest and the imposition of bail conditions."

While detained, the writer suffered high blood pressure and was subsequently admitted to the hospital. He was later released and placed on restrictive bail conditions, which included a temporary ban from X.

Linehan, with the support of Free Speech Union, later launched legal action against the Met, citing a wrongful arrest and breach of his free speech rights. Back in May, the Met issued an unreserved apology to Linehan, and this week they repeated it and agreed to pay him £25,000 in compensation.

In a letter, seen by the Telegraph, a senior officer in the force said: "Whilst there can be no doubt that all officers acted in good faith throughout and were seeking to do their best in the circumstances, the investigation identified shortcomings in both the investigation, arrest and imposition of bail conditions."

The letter reportedly adds: "We apologise to you for those shortcomings and for the distress and inconvenience which he suffered as a result." Linehan later told the publication that the compensation would be beneficial because he had been "on his uppers" over the last few years.

Express.co.uk has contacted The Met for a comment. When approached by the Mirror, a spokesperson for the force said: "We recognise the considerable distress caused to Mr Linehan, and have offered our sincere apologies.

"This case prompted a significant change, which means the Met no longer investigates 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."

On October 20, the Irish author was informed that after the investigation, he wouldn't face any further action. Linehan now lives in the heart of Scottsdale, Arizona, where he has attempted to restore his TV career. During his interview with podcast host Joe Rogan, he revealed that he had been granted a three-year visa, which he hopes will lead to a permanent green card.

He told listeners: "[Comedy actor and writer] Rob Schneider has shown me incredible kindness and brought me over to work on a few projects... My visa's three years, and my aim is to make myself so useful to the Americans that they won't let me go!"