Anti-trans activist Caroline Farrow sues trans woman she’s accused of doxxing
Stephanie Hayden (left) and Caroline Farrow (right). (Twitter/ YouTube)
After being arrested on suspicion of harassment, the anti-trans activist Caroline Farrow is reportedly suing the trans woman she allegedly “doxxed”.
On 3 October, Farrow, an anti-trans, anti-gay Catholic activist and UK campaign director for the far-right lobby group CitizenGo, was arrested on suspicion of malicious communications and harassment.
According to Farrow, the allegations relate to posts made on the hate forum Kiwi Farms, where users have been accused of involvement in some of the most notorious harassment campaigns towards members of the LGBTQ+ community, particularly trans people, in recent years.
Lawyer Stephanie Hayden came forward to Vice News on 6 October, saying that she was Farrow’s accuser.
Hayden told PinkNews that she complained to police about a tweet posted by Farrow, and that she has filed a civil lawsuit based on her being “doxxed” (having personal information, such as her address, published online) by her in July.
In a since-deleted tweet, seen by PinkNews, Caroline Farrow publicly posted a photo of a letter notifying her of a separate legal action, alleging misuse of private information, being brought against her by Hayden.
Farrow misgendered Hayden in the tweet, and the lawyer’s full address was clearly visible in the photo.
Hayden’s claim is based on the fact that Farrow made her address public. She also alleges that the anti-LGBTQ+ activist described her online as a “paedophile” and accused her of stalking her daughter.
Separately, Farrow was reported to the police by a third party, who accused her of posting a vile, anti-trans cartoon to Kiwi Farms under a psuedonym.
The cartoon, also seen by PinkNews, depicted disgraced comedy writer Graham Linehan in a Nazi guard uniform, while Hayden is inside a gas chamber. Linehan has his finger on a button labelled “t****y gas”.
Farrow responded to the Kiwi Farms allegation via Twitter, insisting she was innocent because she was playing a church organ at the time the post was made.
Confirming Farrow’s arrest, Surrey police said: “On Monday, 3 October, officers attended an address in the Guildford area as part of an investigation into allegations of malicious communications (sending of indecent, grossly offensive messages, threats, or information) and harassment.
“A 48-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of both offences.
“A number of electronic devices were seized as potential evidence from this address under section 19 of PACE. Where an offence is alleged to have been committed on an electronic device, for example, it may hold a key piece of evidence and may routinely be seized during an investigation.
“The woman was taken to Guildford police station where she was interviewed. She has now been released under investigation and inquiries remain ongoing.”
Farrow has denied doxxing Hayden, and told PinkNews: “Doxxing is the practice of deliberately revealing someone’s private details in order to intimidate or harass them. I categorically deny ever engaging in such behaviour.
“I am concerned that Vice’s article in which they have seemingly published detailed and specific allegations made by the complainant to the police, compromises the investigation and my right to a fair trial should any charges be brought.
“While I am entitled to outline the absurdity of the situation and declare my innocence, I should not however, be subject to a trial by media publications sympathetic to the complainant.”
Farrow has been vocal online about her arrest, and has since done various interviews with media outlets including GB News and Sky News.
Caroline Farrow has filed a counter-claim against Stephanie Hayden
After the fact, Caroline Farrow has repeatedly claimed that her arrest was due to a “Twitter spat”.
A stupid internet spat involving a permanently aggrieved man has turned out lives upside down.
While he sits there sipping champagne and smirking and firing off endless vexatious claims, my family are under severe stress. It’s unconscionable.
— Caroline Farrow (@CF_Farrow) October 7, 2022
During an appearance on GB News, she told host Mark Steyn: “I have been arrested for what was a Twitter spat about gender issues.”
But Stephanie Hayden revealed that Farrow is actually also suing her.
“Farrow is a hypocrite for various reasons,” she said. “She says that you shouldn’t be suing people over what she perceives to be an internet spat, she’s entitled to that opinion. But, she’s suing someone over what is essentially internet spat!”
The allegations included in Farrow’s claim against Hayden include that she “harassed” her daughter, having “worked out information” on which university Farrow’s adult daughter was intending to study medicine, and that Hayden had been “monitoring the parish newsletter” to figure out when Farrow – the wife of a Catholic priest – was away on holiday in order to serve her papers on her return.
This, Farrow’s claim states, is “more evidence of the surveillance the claimant finds herself under”.
Hayden says it was entirely out of her control when the court decided to serve papers to Farrow.
When asked for comment, Farrow said the counterclaim was a case of her “defending herself against a claim she had no desire to be embroiled in”.
“Hypocrisy is when one advocates against a specific course of action while at the same time advocating it for oneself,” she said.
“The nature of a counter-claim is an exposure of the hypocrisy of any claimant and a demonstration that their hands are less than clean.”
Stephanie Hayden was notified by police of an arson threat
Since the arrest Stephanie Hayden has become increasingly uneasy with the “emotional response” from Caroline Farrow’s followers, which escalated to the point that she was contacted by police regarding an arson threat.
Surrey Police said: “We are aware of a comment that was made on Wednesday (5 October) on our Twitter post in relation to the arrest of a Guildford woman.
“It was not clear who or where the message was directed but as a precaution we made the complainant aware and have put appropriate safeguarding measures in place. We have also reported the post to Twitter and it has since been removed.”
Hayden said: “It only takes one lunatic out those followers and potentially I’ve got problems.”
Amended on 14 October to clarify that Stephanie Hayden is suing Caroline Farrow for misuse of private information, not online harassment as a previous version mistakenly said.
