Yahoo News Judge stops 'out of control' Twitter row between transgender lawyer and Catholic commentator
A transgender lawyer and a Catholic commentator have been banned from mentioning each other on social media following a High Court ruling.
The women’s "out of control" Twitter feud resulted in Stephanie Hayden, who is trans, being granted an injunction against Caroline Farrow at yesterday's hearing in London.
Mr Justice Bryan granted the injunction against Mrs Farrow on the condition that Ms Hayden would also refrain from mentioning the commentator - whose husband is a priest - in future social media posts.
Ms Hayden accused Ms Farrow of subjecting her to a “barrage” of abusive tweets, and the judge agreed that the mother-of-five had “crossed the line” with her “unacceptable” posts.
The interim injunction specifically prevents Mrs Farrow from “misgendering” Ms Hayden by referring to her as male when she is legally female.
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Ms Hayden - who represented herself - said that the two women had been debating transgender issues online since January, but things had “escalated” in April.
She accused Mrs Farrow of misgendering her, suggesting she was violent, sharing a photo of her and referring to a spent conviction from 20 years ago for affray.
Ms Hayden said: “It was a clear attempt by the defendant to, I say successfully, whip up a social media storm.”
Mrs Farrow denied the claims and her lawyers argued she had been subjected to abusive tweets from Ms Hayden.
Her barrister, Amanda Jones, said: “What the claimant has described as robust criticism of the defendant has been a positive avalanche of abuse over a number of months.”
This isn't the first high profile Twitter row for either woman.
In March, Ms Hayden withdrew a libel case against Father Ted creator Graham Linehan, which she launched following an online exchange - later tweeting that the case had cost him £28,000.
Mrs Farrow also clashed publicly with Susie Green, the founder of transgender support charity Mermaids, in another misgendering row.
