27-05-2025
BREAKING NEWS Tommy Robinson leaves prison early after High Court judge reduced his 18-month sentence for contempt of court
Tommy Robinson has been released from prison after his sentence for contempt of court was reduced by a judge.
The activist, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was seen leaving HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes this morning after serving a sentence for the civil offence of contempt of court.
His original 18-month jail term was reduced by four months at London 's High Court earlier this month and he has spent seven months behind bars.
It was revealed last week that Robinson has now been charged with harassment causing fear of violence against two men.
The 42-year-old is due to appear before Westminster magistrates in central London on Thursday next week.
He had been jailed last October after admitting multiple breaches of an injunction made in 2021, which barred him from repeating false allegations concerning a Syrian refugee who successfully sued him for libel.
The sentence comprised a 14-month 'punitive' element and a four-month 'coercive' element.
Sentencing judge Mr Justice Johnson had told 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.
His lawyers told the court 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 last week said that there was an 'absence of contrition or remorse' from Robinson, but that the defendant had shown a 'change in attitude' since he was sentenced.
The judge 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.'
He continued: '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.
Announcing the new charges alleging harassment, a Crown Prosecution Service spokesperson said last Wednesday: 'We have authorised the Metropolitan Police to charge Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, 42, with harassment causing fear of violence against two men.
'The Crown Prosecution Service reminds all concerned that criminal proceedings against the defendant are active and that he has the right to a fair trial.'
Robinson is facing a separate trial in October next year over an accusation that he failed to provide the Pin for his mobile phone when stopped by Kent Police in Folkestone in July 2024.
