Troll GP likened JK Rowling to Jimmy Savile: How trans-activist family doctor, 31, accused Harry Potter novelist of 'not being safe around children' - as he's suspended for using Twitter to launch attacks on women

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A GP who was suspended after branding a woman 'a venomous transphobic bigot' compared JK Rowling to disgraced sexual predator Jimmy Savile.

In a series of bizarre rambling tweets, Adrian Harrop, 31, claimed the beloved children's author 'isn't safe to be around children' due to her views on gender.

He said his comments were 'fairly reasonable' and 'could well be substantiated' before finally deleting them and backing down for being 'insensitive'.

The posts last year, which were part of a series of verbal attacks Harrop launched on women, reemerged as he was suspended from his job for a month.

Yesterday he admitted to using his Twitter to pursue a series of social media rivals opposed to his views.

He had branded one person 'a venomous transphobic bigot' whose central aim was to 'demonise trans people and exclude them from public life'.

A tribunal accepted the GP at Brownlow Surgery in Liverpool - where doctors earn on average £81,955 - had been joking but found the comments were inappropriate.

In a series of bizarre rambling tweets, Adrian Harrop (pictured), 31, claimed the beloved children's author 'isn't safe to be around children' due to her views on gender

He said his comments were 'fairly reasonable' and 'could well be substantiated' before finally deleting them and backing down for being 'insensitive'. Pictured: JK Rowling

Harrop tweeted his attack on Rowling in May last year, where he made the ludicrous comparison with sick paedophile Savile.

He wrote: 'Notice how the transphobic trolls are so outraged when someone suggests JKRowling isn't safe to be around children.

'They're basically baying for a trans woman's blood over this - but then demonstrate complete inconsistency/apathy when Glinner starts calling people ''groomers''.'

In reply to a comment, he said: 'Jimmy Savile was the UK's most popular children's entertainer at the height of his career and one of the most famous men in the country.

'Working with how you're framing JKR, I suppose you'd have gladly given him unsupervised contact with your kids - or have I misunderstood you?'

He later added: 'I think it was a fairly reasonable statement to make, and could be well substantiated.

'Personally i wouldn't want any vulnerable and impressionable children to be alone and unsupervised with anyone who espouses hateful and discriminatory views towards trans people - it'd be unsafe.'

Harrop was met with a tidal wave of opposition for his inflammatory comments and later deleted the post for being 'insensitive'.

He added: 'It was not my intention to equate the actions or beliefs of JK Rowling with those of Jimmy Savile in any way, and I apologies unreservedly for any misinterpretation of what I did say.

'I hereby formally retract the statement, which is both poorly worded and insensitive.' Rowling was unavailable for comment.

Harrop made comparisons between the beloved children's author and sick paedophile Savile (pictured)

But he launched another attack on the writer two months later when he moaned about a poster in Edinburgh - four hours from his home - saying: 'I love JK Rowling.'

The digitised slogan in Waverley was launched at the railway station to celebrate her 55th birthday.

But it was torn down after Twitter troll Harrop complained to the chief executive and senior directors of the billboard company Primesight.

He had blasted them on social media, accusing them of being complicit 'in the spread of transphobic hate speech' and they gave way.

The GP also inflamed tensions with women in March last year by successfully lobbying to have flags he disagreed with stripped from town halls.

He kicked up a fuss when banners were hoisted above two venues in Bootle and Southport in Merseyside to mark International Women's Day.

He claimed their message, which read 'woman, noun, adult female', was a 'hostile transphobic dog whistle' and said they had to be ripped down.

Merseyside Council caved into the demand despite huge opposition from the feminist community.

Harrop studied medicine at Manchester University from 2006 to 2012 before joining the profession.

He did his general practitioner training with the Royal College of General Practitioners from 2015 to 2019.

After qualifying, he worked in gender-affirmative healthcare in Liverpool and was the LGBTQ+ community engagement representative at the RCGP.

Since October 2019 he has worked for Brownlow Health Care in the Merseyside city part time.

His LinkedIn says: 'MBChB, MRCGP. General Practitioner in Liverpool, UK. Special interest in gender-affirmative healthcare for transgender, non-binary, and gender diverse people.'

It adds: 'Community advocate, and campaigner for social justice, equality, and human rights.'

He launched another attack on the writer two months later when he moaned about a poster in Edinburgh - four hours from his home - saying: 'I love JK Rowling'

He also whined about a billboard in Toxteth, Liverpool, that said women were 'adult human female'

Yesterday Harrop was suspended after admitting he used his Twitter to pursue a series of social media rivals opposed to his views.

He had called one person 'a venomous transphobic bigot' whose central aim was to 'demonise trans people and exclude them from public life'.

He said in another tweet: 'Cis people, on the whole, are just awful and there needs to be a massive state-sponsored programme of re-education'. 

Harrop expressed disappointment that this idea had not gained 'more traction at the Labour Party conference'.

In a statement the doctor said: 'I am not transgender myself but I am a fervent supporter of transgender rights.' 

The tribunal accepted Harrop had been joking but still found it inappropriate for a GP to post in a public forum.

In relation to him blasting a female rival as 'a venomous transphobic bigot', it said there was no evidence of any personal offence having been taken.

It was therefore not satisfied the tweet was 'objectively offensive'.

In another tweet Harrop said: 'Reality is that TERFS aren't interested in anything of the sort – they dress up their hatred and bigotry towards trans people in a veil of 'genuine concerns re ''safety'' and ''civil, intellectual debate'', but in truth it's complete nonsense. TERFS hate Trans. Simple as that.'

Since March, Harrop has also worked for Cheshire and Merseyside Gender Identity Collaborative as a GP with an interest in gender affirmative healthcare.

The tribunal agreed that in a tweet posted on January 29, 2019, the doctor had given clues about where a user known as Person B worked, the job he did, and where he lived.

These clues included the details of a bed and breakfast a short distance from the man's home, along with the suggestion to campaigners they might go there. 'The more the merrier', said Harrop.

However, the tribunal found against the GMC's allegation he had intended to reveal the location to his followers, saying the information had previously been disclosed by Person B and Harrop's supporters could easily have obtained the information elsewhere on the internet.

Furthermore, Person B himself had tweeted at the time he was not intimidated by the GP's tweets. Harrop's intention had merely been 'to annoy or frustrate' his rival.

On September 29, 2020, the GP accused Person D of engaging 'in a sustained and targeted campaign' against numerous individuals, including many of his friends, 'apparently in the name of the 'gender critical' cause.

He added: 'It is time that this was brought to an end, by whatever means necessary'.

The tribunal ruled the tweet was' inappropriate and ill-advised' but accepted Harrop's explanation he had meant only 'legal and legitimate' means.

With no other evidence available, it could not make a finding that the GP had 'attempted to incite or insinuate violence'.

Harrop urged Person E not to 'get your knickers in a twist', before going on to suggest the 'fabulous' idea of a trans activists' trip taking in Westminster Cathedral and Waterloo Station before ending up at the iconic Wentworth golf club in Virginia Water, Surrey – close to the woman's home.

The tweet was decorated with emojis representing a golf course, a church and a train. Another tweet referred to the schools attended by Person E's children.

At another point he said of her: 'Ultimately it's all about personal notoriety and exposure… the children are clearly of secondary importance, and are likely to be written off as collateral damage should any of her actions lead them to sustaining psychological trauma'.

The tribunal said it had been inappropriate for Harrop to comment on the psychological state of someone he didn't know, and about any possible 'damage' to her children.

It went on to condemn the GP for retweeting 'highly offensive' and misogynistic messages about Person E.

One of these said: 'We are supposed to believe that the LGBT baiting, bigoted, vile catholic c*** @(Person E) is some kind of victim: After she purposefully and intentionally antagonises the lgbt community, she completely deserves all the vitriol she receives.

Another read: 'Someone…suggested cross-referencing these behaviour patterns with the cycle of the moon…unsure if there's any direct correlation per se, but it's a fun theory nevertheless'.

The tribunal said the retweeting of highly offensive language and the tweeting of 'misogynistic references to women's menstrual cycles' were further examples of wholly inappropriate communications by Harrop.

But it rejected Person E's complaint that Harrop had continued his Twitter campaign against her, arguing that she had done likewise.

'The tribunal considered Person E's request for him to stop tweeting was somewhat contradictory and paradoxical,' said its ruling.

'Both sides appeared to be intent on provoking each other… the tribunal was not satisfied on the balance of probabilities that Dr Harrop's subjective intent was to intimidate Person E.'

The allegation that Harrop's Twitter campaign against E amounted to cyber-bullying was also rejected.

Many of his tweets appeared to be in reply to E's own messages, and therefore on the balance of probabilities the GMC had failed to demonstrate on the evidence that he had undertaken a campaign of cyber-bullying.

The two-week hearing heard Harrop sent out hundreds of tweets under his real name and with a 'biog' that clearly identified him. He accepted some of a series of allegations against him, but denied all claims of intimidation.

Ryan Donoghue told the tribunal: 'He was motivated by a different view on transgender rights. He felt so strongly that he was right that he saw it as his job to silence those on the other side of the debate'.

At times his behaviour could be described as 'sinister', he alleged.

Overall, the tribunal found that his misconduct had impaired his fitness to practice. It suspended his registration for a month.

Today's ruling said: 'The tribunal considered that Dr Harrop's actions in posting inappropriate tweets over a sustained period of time, in contradiction to the advice he was given, breached fundamental tenets of the profession.

'His actions brought the profession into disrepute, undermining public confidence in the profession and the standards of conduct expected from members of the profession'.

The tribunal added: 'Whilst Dr Harrop has a right to his views and to express them, the manner and thought processes he demonstrated raised concerns regarding the extent of his insight, and his inability to fully appreciate the wider context of his obligations as a doctor.'

In a written statement to the tribunal Harrop said he was 'deeply sorry' for having fallen short of expectations, 'not only for myself but also because of the broader impact this may have had on the public's trust in my profession.

'I have taken meaningful and substantial steps to address the issues that have been highlighted and would like to assure the tribunal and the GMC that I will make every effort in the future not to repeat the same or similar errors of judgment.'

Commenting after the tribunal, Malcolm Clark of the LGB Alliance said: 'Harrop was only one of a legion of obsessive activists who seem to think they have a right to abuse women who raise concerns.

'The least the public can expect from doctors who use social media is that they uphold facts not promote niche unscientific notions like claiming a male can be a lesbian.

'We welcome the fact MPTS has sanctioned Harrop for making threats against those who stood up for the rights of lesbians and women in general.'