Tommy Robinson walks FREE from jail four months early for contempt of court after ‘lifer made death threats'
TOMMY Robinson has walked free from jail four months early after there was reportedly a mark put on his head by a lifer.
Robinson - real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon - was locked up for 18 months in October but showed a "change in attitude".
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The former EDL leader was jailed for contempt of court after multiple breaches of an injunction in 2021.
The order banned the 42-year-old from repeating false allegations against a Syrian refugee who successfully sued him for libel.
Robinson's sentence was made up of a 14-month "punitive" element and a four-month "coercive" element - which was slashed.
This was because he "purged" his contempt and showed steps not to break the injunction that originally landed him behind bars.
He was originally due to be released on July 26.
In a ruling, a judge found that while Robinson wasn't showing remorse, he did display a "change in attitude" since being locked up.
The judge also noted that Robinson assured the court he has no intention of repeating his false claims again.
Mr Justice Johnson said: "He (Robinson) has given an assurance that he will comply with the injunction in the future, that he has no intention of breaching it again, and that he is aware of the consequences of what would happen if he breached the injunction again."
Lawyers for the Solicitor General also agreed that Robinson had taken steps to adhere to the injunction.
The former EDL leader previously failed to appeal against the length of his sentence, saying being in a closed wing of prison was making him "ill".
Following threats to his safety, a court heard there were fears Robinson would be assaulted or even killed by a "lifer" for "kudos" - hence the decision to move him to a closed wing.
A lawyer for the Ministry of Justice said at least two inmates were plotting to attack Robinson and that he had a "mark on his head".
The row that led to the far-right activist stems from 2018, when a video went viral that showed Jamal Hijazi, a Syrian in West Yorkshire, being attacked by another teenager at school.
Robinson falsely claimed that Jamal was a violent thug.
As a result of this, the teenager and his family were targeted by death threats.
They were later awarded £100,000 in damages after suing Robinson for defamation, and he was slapped with an injunction banning his from repeating his claims.
But Robinson lashed out again to say he was being "silenced" and re-showed the 2018 video to thousands of his supporters in Trafalgar Square.
When he was jailed, the judge declared his actions were not "accidental, negligent or merely reckless".
'Nobody is above the law. Nobody can pick or choose which laws or which injunctions they obey, or which they do not.
'Even if they believe that an injunction is... contrary to their views they must comply with the injunction.
'They are not entitled to set themselves up as the judge in their own court. Otherwise the administration of justice and rule of law would break down.'
In his bid against being put in a closed wing, it was heard Robinson had access to a laptop and emails in prison.
He has use of an exercise yard for several hours a day, and is able to make social phone calls for four hours daily.
In March this year, Tom Cross, for the MoJ, said in written submissions that 120 people had been authorised to visit him.
He added that Robinson been allowed "over 80 visits", another 13 "non-family visits" approved up to March 30, and the ability to request to see other prisoners.
The activist's visits are two hours of social visits, four days a week, which he said were "well in excess" of prison requirements for unconvicted prisoners, which is at least one hour per visit, three days a week.
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Why has Tommy Robinson been jailed for 18 months? Contempt of Court explained
By Ryan Merrifield
TOMMY Robinson has been jailed for 18 months after showing a film containing slurs about a Syrian refugee.
The 41-year-old, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, appeared at Woolwich Crown Court today after breaching a 2021 High Court order barring him from repeating false claims about a then-schoolboy.
Far-right activist Robinson was accused of being in contempt of court over having "published, caused, authorised or procured" a film titled Silenced, which contained the libellous allegations.
The Solicitor General said he "knowingly" breached the order on four occasions.
Robinson breached a 2021 High Court order barring him from repeating false claims about then-schoolboy Jamal Hijazi, who successfully sued him for libel.
The Solicitor General issued the first contempt claim against Robinson in June this year, claiming he "knowingly" breached the order on four occasions.
Lawyers previously told a judge that the breaches included Robinson having "published, caused, authorised or procured" a film titled Silenced, which contained the libellous allegations, in May last year.
The second claim was issued in August, concerning six further breaches, including playing the film to a demonstration in Trafalgar Square in central London earlier this year, which lawyers for the Solicitor General told an earlier hearing was a "flagrant" breach of the court order.
Aidan Eardley KC, for the Solicitor General, said the film was viewed "very extensively", including being seen by 2.2 million people after being reposted by Andrew Tate.
And, he said in written submissions that by the time the second claim was issued, it "had received 44m views on X alone".
He claimed that all of the paragraphs of the injunction were breached "at one point or another" by the film.
The sentence for contempt of court can be up to two years imprisonment at the Crown Court or one month at the magistrates' court.
Contempt of court is a legal term that describes behaviour that interferes with the justice process or risks unfairly influencing a court case, according to Gov.uk.
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