Far-right activist Tommy Robinson jailed for 18 months after admitting contempt of court

Far-right activist Tommy Robinson has been jailed for 18 months for contempt of court today (28 October) after repeatedly making false allegations against a Syrian refugee in violation of an injunction.

Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is the former leader of the anti-immigration group the English Defence League.

In a ruling by Mr Justice Johnson, the 41-year-old was sentenced to 18 months for “flagrant” breaches of a 2021 High Court order. 

‘Nobody is above the law’

Johnson stated that “nobody is above the law,” addressing Robinson, who has previously been found to have committed contempt of court on three separate occasions. 

“All of his actions so far suggest that he regards himself as above the law,” Johnson told Woolwich Crown Court.

He added: “Each breach of the injunction was a considered, planned, deliberate, direct, and flagrant violation of the court’s order.”

Breaches of the order included screening a 90-minute documentary titled Silenced at a rally in Trafalgar Square in July and sharing it on X (formerly Twitter), where it was viewed by 44 million people. The documentary was found to “substantially” repeat the false allegations.

On Monday (October 28), at Woolwich Crown Court, Robinson confirmed that he admitted to 10 breaches of the order.

The court heard that Robinson had been prohibited from repeating false allegations against Jamal Hijazi, a Syrian refugee who successfully sued him for libel after being assaulted in October 2018 at Almondbury Community School in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.

The attack was filmed, and a video of the incident went viral, with Robinson falsely claiming in Facebook videos that Hijazi was “not innocent and violently attacks young English girls in his school.”

Despite the court order, Robinson continued to repeat defamatory allegations from February of last year in six podcast and YouTube interviews, including one with controversial media commentator Jordan Peterson.

“This case is about disobedience to a court order and the undermining of the rule of law that comes with it,” said Aidan Eardley KC, representing the solicitor general.

Upon hearing the judge’s verdict, Tommy Robinson shrugged, saluted the public gallery, and pumped his chest as he exited the dock, reported The Independent.

Judge Johnson explained that Robinson would serve half of his sentence in custody, with the opportunity to reduce it to 14 months if he “purged” his contempt by removing the false claims from his social media.

Robinson shook his head in visible disapproval of the suggestion.