The far-right activist Tommy Robinson has been jailed for 18 months for contempt of court docket for repeating false allegations towards a Syrian refugee, in breach of an injunction.

He was informed that “no person is above the regulation” by a choose who stated the “flagrant” breaches had been finished in a “subtle” manner to make sure the false claims would obtain “most protection”, reaching tens of tens of millions of individuals.

Robinson, whose actual title is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, had proven no regret and there was no lifelike prospect of rehabilitation, stated Mr Justice Johnson, who informed Woolwich crown court docket on Monday: “All of his actions to date recommend that he regards himself as above the regulation.”

Nonetheless, the choose allowed for 4 months to be faraway from the sentence if Robinson “purged” himself by eradicating the false claims from social media accounts he managed.

Whereas two days had been put aside for the listening to, the court docket was informed within the morning that Robinson had admitted contempt via 10 breaches of a excessive court docket order made in 2021, and which led to the solicitor basic issuing two contempt functions.

The listening to was informed that Robinson had in impact repeated the entire allegations that led to him dropping a libel case introduced by Jamal Hijazi, who had been filmed being attacked at a college in West Yorkshire.

Shortly after the video of the incident went viral, Robinson falsely claimed in Fb movies that Hijazi was “not harmless and he violently assaults younger English women in his college”.

The false claims had been repeated by Robinson in interviews with figures together with Gareth Icke, son of the conspiracy theorist David Icke, and in a movie made by Robinson. Entitled Silenced, it was seen by tens of millions of individuals because of being shared on on-line platforms together with that of the misogynist influencer Andrew Tate.

Aidan Eardley KC, for the solicitor basic, stated: “The movie is a considerable piece of labor. It lasts about 90 minutes and is totally dedicated to the Hijazi story.”

Different breaches of court docket directions included airing the movie on screens throughout a rally that Robinson organised for his supporters in Trafalgar Sq. on 27 July.

The solicitor basic, Sarah Sackman, stated: “Those that breach court docket orders danger discovering themselves in contempt of court docket. The sentence issued by the choose right now confirms that nobody ought to take into account themselves above the rule of regulation.”

Rupert Lowe, a Reform UK MP, tweeted that he hoped Robinson can be given safety to make sure his security in jail, including that he can be elevating considerations with the Ministry of Justice on behalf of constituents.

At first of the listening to, Eardley stated a “decision” had been reached over the allegations.

When requested by Mr Justice Johnson whether or not he accepted he had dedicated the breaches, Robinson nodded after which replied: “Sure.”

Referring to Robinson by his actual title, Eardley stated the case was not in regards to the far proper determine’s political actions. “It’s a case about disobedience to an order of a court docket and an undermining of the rule of regulation,” he stated.

The court docket was informed by Sasha Wass KC, for Robinson, that he was a journalist and it was his “ideas which have introduced him earlier than the court docket”. She argued for mitigation on the idea that her consumer had pleaded responsible “sooner fairly than later” regardless that he beforehand failed to show up at a listening to of the case in July.

Robinson was ordered to pay prices of £80,350.82 sought by the solicitor basic. He was reminded by Mr Justice Johnson that he would nonetheless be topic to the injunction after his launch and accountable for sanction once more if he breached it. The potential for early launch after 14 months was depending on, on the very least, eradicating Silenced from his social media accounts.

The anti-racism marketing campaign group Hope Not Hate, which initially put collectively a file detailing how Robinson had breached the injunction, stated: “Right now’s verdict proves that even Lennon’s actions have penalties and goes some solution to delivering justice for Jamal Hijazi.”

London
CNN
 — 

British far-right political activist Tommy Robinson has been jailed for 18 months after he admitted to being in contempt of court docket by repeating false accusations a few Syrian refugee, in response to court docket paperwork.

Robinson, whose actual title is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, admitted on Monday to breaching UK court docket guidelines 10 instances.

Robinson, the founding father of the now-defunct anti-immigration English Defence League (EDL), was accused of repeating false allegations that precipitated him to lose a libel swimsuit in 2021.

The preliminary libel case associated to Robinson making false accusations in opposition to a Syrian schoolboy who was attacked in an incident shared broadly on social media. In 2018, footage emerged displaying the 15-year-old – a refugee from Syria – being taunted, grabbed by the throat and pushed to the bottom, as different college students at his college in Huddersfield, northern England, regarded on.

On the time, Robinson made allegations in opposition to {the teenager} in various social media movies, which he then deleted, falsely claiming the teenager attacked English ladies. The far-right figurehead later admitted to posting a faux {photograph} purporting to point out violence by a Muslim gang. Robinson needed to pay £100,000 ($130,000) in damages and authorized prices on the time and was ordered to not repeat the false claims, in response to the UK’s PA Media information company.

At Monday’s sentencing listening to, a decide at London’s Woolwich Crown Courtroom stated Robinson breached court docket guidelines by publishing a movie, known as “Silenced,” on social media by which he repeated the libelous allegations. He additionally performed the movie publicly in London’s Trafalgar Sq. at a rally of his supporters and repeated the allegations in printed interviews, in response to the decide.

“The breaches weren’t unintended or negligent or merely reckless,” Justice Johnson stated in the course of the sentencing listening to. “There was a level of sophistication within the breaches in that they concerned the deliberate launch of fabric in a way that was designed to hunt to attain most protection.

“All his actions recommend that he regards himself as being above the legislation,” the decide added. “No person is above the legislation.”

Robinson was faraway from Fb and Instagram in 2019 for posting anti-Muslim content material and interesting in exercise offline supporting hate figures and teams, Fb stated in an announcement on the time.

However his controversial 90-minute movie “Silenced” stays pinned to Robinson’s X feed and has been seen by hundreds of thousands of individuals, in response to the positioning’s counter.

A lawyer for Robinson argued that “he acted the best way that he did, and he accepts his culpability, as a result of he passionately believes in free speech,” PA Media reported.

Aidan Eardley, representing the solicitor normal, advised the court docket that “this isn’t a case about Mr. Yaxley-Lennon’s political opinions… It’s a case in regards to the disobedience to a court docket order, and the undermining of the rule of legislation that goes with that.”

On Saturday, 1000’s of Robinson’s supporters gathered in central London for a far-right rally – an occasion he missed as a result of he was already in police custody. The far-right campaigners had been met by anti-racism counter-protesters, in response to London’s Metropolitan Police.