Tommy Robinson, the founder of the far-right group English Defence League, has lost his appeal against an 18-month prison sentence for contempt of court. The Court of Appeal in England dismissed the challenge, with three of the nation's most senior judges, including the lady chief justice, Baroness Sue Carr, upholding the original sentence handed down last October.
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was sentenced after he breached a court injunction by repeating false allegations against a Syrian refugee named Jamal Hijazi. The case centres on videos Robinson posted in 2018, claiming Hijazi was involved in a gang and had participated in a violent assault. These videos amassed nearly a million views, leading to abuse directed at Hijazi. As a result, Hijazi successfully sued Robinson for libel, and in 2021, the High Court issued an injunction preventing Robinson from repeating these allegations.
Despite the injunction, Robinson published another video titled “Silenced,” which contained statements prohibited by the court order. The solicitor-general submitted two applications against Robinson for contempt of court, and Robinson admitted breaching the injunction on ten separate occasions. When sentencing Robinson last year, Mr Justice Johnson described these breaches as a “flagrant breach of the court’s order.”
During the appeal hearing, Robinson’s legal team argued that his imprisonment was adversely affecting his health. They submitted that he suffered from conditions including complex post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and contended that the prison conditions, including segregation, were making him "more ill than Mr Justice Johnson could have foreseen." A medical report from an expert psychologist was presented to support this claim.
However, the Court of Appeal judges rejected these arguments in their ruling on Wednesday. They stated that the prison conditions were not "materially harsher or more onerous" than what the sentencing judge had anticipated. The judges described the legal reasoning of the original sentencing judge as “scrupulous and impeccable,” concluding there was no basis for reducing the sanction.
Robinson is currently serving his sentence and is due for release in July. The Court of Appeal noted that he could be eligible for early release if he demonstrates a commitment to comply with the court injunction in the future. The Financial Times is reporting on this development.
Source: Noah Wire Services