Far-right activist Tommy Robinson free from prison after 'changing his attitude'
Tommy Robinson has just walked free from prison part-way through his 18-month prison term, after promising a High court judge he will not commit the same crime again.
The controversial far-right figure, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley Lennon, has reportedly "changed his attitude" after he was jailed in October after admitting multiple breaches of an injunction made in 2021, which barred him from repeating false allegations against a Syrian refugee who successfully sued him for libel.
The sentence comprised a 14-month 'punitive' element and a four-month 'coercive' element, with sentencing judge Mr Justice Johnson telling Robinson he could have the latter taken off his sentence if he were to 'purge' his contempt by taking steps to comply with the injunction.
Robinson, who was previously due to be released on July 26, applied to purge his contempt yesterday, with his lawyers telling the court that he had shown a 'commitment' to comply with the order. Lawyers for the Solicitor General said they agreed that Robinson had taken steps to adhere to the injunction.
In a ruling, Mr Justice Johnson said that there was an 'absence of contrition or remorse' from Robinson, but that he had shown a 'change in attitude' since he was sentenced. He 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. I consider it appropriate to grant the application.'
He added: 'The practical effect, subject to confirmation by the prison authorities, is that the defendant will be released once he has completed the punitive element, which I understand will be within the next week.'
Robinson, who attended the hearing via video-link from HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes, showed no immediate reaction once the judgment was handed down. He was jailed last year for 10 admitted breaches of the injunction, after the Solicitor General issued two contempt claims against him.
The first alleged he 'knowingly' breached the order on four occasions, including by having 'published, caused, authorised or procured' a film called Silenced, which contains the libellous allegations, in May 2023. The film was pinned to the top of Robinson's profile on the social media site X, while he also repeated the claims in three interviews between February and June 2023.
The second claim was issued in August last year and concerned six further breaches, including playing the film at a demonstration in Trafalgar Square in central London last summer. Handing down the sentence at Woolwich Crown Court, Mr Justice Johnson said Robinson could 'purge' his contempt by showing 'a commitment to comply with the injunction'.
After being jailed, Robinson lost a bid to bring a legal challenge against the Ministry of Justice over his segregation from other prisoners behind bars in March. He then lost a challenge to his sentence at the Court of Appeal in April, but three senior judges said he could 'still reduce the period he has to spend in custody by taking the steps identified' by Mr Justice Johnson.
Barrister Alex Di Francesco, for Robinson, told the court on Tuesday that several of the publications which constituted breaches of the injunction had been 'removed'. He said: 'The defendant has demonstrated that commitment that Your Lordship required, both in his words and his actions. Each admitted breach capable of being purged has been acted upon and has been entirely resulted in removal.'
Adam Payter, for the Solicitor General, said that a review had been carried out to assess whether the injunction had been complied with. He told the court that following the review, the Solicitor General 'agrees that the material has been removed from all bar two of the online locations'.
He added that Robinson had taken steps to have the publications removed from the two locations where they were still visible. The injunction was issued after Robinson was successfully sued by Jamal Hijazi, a then-schoolboy who was assaulted at Almondbury Community School in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, in October 2018.
After a clip of the incident went viral, Robinson made false claims on Facebook, including about Mr Hijazi attacking girls in his school, leading to the libel case. Mr Justice Nicklin ordered Robinson to pay Mr Hijazi £100,000 in damages and his legal costs, as well as making the injunction preventing Robinson from repeating the allegations.
Mr Justice Johnson said on Tuesday that Robinson could be jailed for up to two years if he breached the injunction again in the future.
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