Robinson: “No.” Despite a lack of proof, Robinson relied upon his own misguided sense of the law, and hastily instructed lawyers to issue proceedings against Cambridge police. He believed that by doing so he would bring them to task, force them to admit they were wrong and somehow prevent them from doing it again.
Full Answer
Let’s take a closer look at the controversial figure's life. Why has Tommy Robinson been jailed? Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, 36, was jailed for nine months on July 11, 2019, after being found guilty of contempt for live-streaming a video outside a child grooming trial.
Instead Robinson chose the worst possible route and the worse possible case to make his point. This was never going to achieve any thing in the court of public opinion because irrespective of the outcome those who oppose Tommy Robinson will insist the police were in the right, and those who support him, will maintain the police were wrong.
Former EDL leader Tommy Robinson told the High Court he will represent himself after being sued by a Syrian refugee who was filmed being attacked in a school playground Tommy Robinson will represent himself in a libel trial next month because he "can't afford a lawyer", the High Court has heard.
"Tommy Robinson LOSES his case against Cambridgeshire Constabulary". Cambridgeshire Live. Retrieved 15 March 2019. - "Tommy Robinson loses harassment case against police force".
Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon (born 27 November 1982), better known as Tommy Robinson, is a British far-right, anti-Islam activist, and convicted criminal. He is the co-founder and former leader of the English Defence League, and later served as a political advisor to former UKIP leader Gerard Batten.
Robinson told the audience he was not allowed to talk about certain issues because he was out on prison licence. He said, "I regain my freedom of speech on the 22 July 2015." He criticised "politicians, the media and police for failing to tackle certain criminal activities because of the fear of being labelled Islamophobic ." He said that Woodhill prison had become "an ISIS training camp", and that radicals were "running the wings".
Robinson's birth name is Stephen Christopher Yaxley. The name Tommy Robinson is a pseudonym taken from a prominent member of the "Men In Gear" (MIG) football hooligan crew, which follows Luton Town Football Club. The nom de guerre successfully hid Robinson's identity as Stephen Yaxley-Lennon and his criminal history, until the connection was uncovered in July 2010 by Searchlight magazine.
Many prominent UKIP members, including eight of its MEPs, resigned from the party in response to Robinson's appointment. Of the eight MEPs who left, two were former party leaders. One was the UKIP's leader in Scotland; and another was Nigel Farage, who said Robinson and his associates brought "scuffles" and "violence" into the party and "many have criminal records, some pretty serious".
Robinson responded on Twitter to the Finsbury Park attack, writing, "The mosque where the attack happened tonight has a long history of creating terrorists & radical jihadists & promoting hate & segregation," and, "I'm not justifying it, I've said many times if government or police don't sort these centres of hate they will create monsters as seen tonight." Robinson's statements were widely criticised in the media as inciting hatred. Appearing the next morning on Good Morning Britain, Robinson held up the Quran and described it as a "violent and cursed book". The host, Piers Morgan, accused him of "stirring up hatred like a bigoted lunatic", and Robinson's appearance drew a number of complaints to Ofcom.
Robinson's fraud amounted to £160,000 over a period of six months. Judge Andrew Bright QC described him as the "instigator, if not the architect" of a series of frauds totalling £640,000. "This was an operation which was fraudulent from the outset and involved a significant amount of forward planning." He described Robinson as a "fixer" who had introduced others to fraudulent mortgage broker Deborah Rothschild. Rothschild had assisted some defendants by providing fake pay slips and income details.
On 1 August 2018, due to procedural errors, he was released on bail pending a new hearing of the case. On 5 July 2019, Robinson was again found guilty of contempt of court at the retrial and was committed at the Old Bailey to nine months in prison on 11 July․.
When asked to give his own reasons as to why it failed, Robinson relied upon his catch phrase of blame shifting “state conspiracy.” In his mind, the judge had decided the case before she’d entered the courtroom. But if he believes the judge was part of this state led conspiracy to deny him justice, then it would follow so was his lawyer, who is as much a servant of the court as the judge is.
Prior to the action, Robinson claimed to have been offered two out of court settlements by the police but he refused to take them because he wanted a public apology. If he is telling the truth, then it would seem that the police were desperate to avoid a trial. Does that not prove that they were frightened of losing?
This is because to prove harassment you must show that there was a ‘course of conduct’. This means Robinson would have to show that during the events that gave rise to the claim, the police harassed him more than once. That was not the case as issuing the dispersal notice and moving him on was one unbroken, continuous act.
Did I say futility? I meant frivolity, because the obvious conclusion is that both Robinson and his lawyers took full advantage of the generosity of his donators. The trial was nothing more than an attempt to further their own personal aims, be that reputation or money, it’s hard to tell. I would not go as far as to suggest his lawyer intentionally mis-sold Robinson’s chances to him. She may have repeatedly briefed him on how futile the case was but he refused to listen. It is not in the best interests of a barrister to keep their clients sedated with false optimism as they pursue a hopeless case on the basis that they will get paid regardless, as it would be grounds for a legitimate complaint afterwards.
A solicitor who then sought and obtained an interim injunction against Robinson for harassment. On that score Robinson got lucky, because the solicitor opted for a quick civil injunction rather than a slow criminal prosecution, thereby sparing Robinson another pointless court trial, or worse still a criminal behaviour order.
The claim originated from an incident in August 2016, when police officers – allegedly acting as football hooligan spotters after a local match – came across Robinson quietly having a drink in a Cambridge pub, not too far from some targeted undesirables.
Robinson insisted that the police acted out of spite and dispersed him because they opposed his political beliefs. I’m inclined to believe that his opinion is correct. Low ranking police officers routinely take instructions from high ranking officers to disperse individuals, despite not having formed their own reasonable grounds to do so; a requirement under s35 (2) of the Act. But as reasonable grounds has such a low threshold, it is fairly easy for officers to lie about it afterwards. This is precisely what happened at trial. But it should have been plainly obvious to Robinson that, without material evidence that the police dispersed him due to his beliefs, his opinion would not prevail over their lies.
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What on earth happened to poor Tommy Robinson? 10 Things You Should Know. It can now be reported that Tommy Robinson, the former leader of the English Defence League, convicted fraudster, sometime-football hooligan and self-reinvented free speech advocate , was on Friday 25 May 2018 imprisoned for 13 months for contempt of court after livestreaming ...
Thus sprung a (largely unchallenged and unchallengeable) narrative of Tommy The Brave being arrested outside court for no reason and imprisoned in secret by the deep state, culminating in petitions for his release and a march on Downing Street.
Because any BBC reports, which as far as I have seen relate entirely to the outset of proceedings before the judge made the reporting restriction, were not in contempt of court. They were fair and accurate, rather than propagandist rants seeking to disseminate information that a judge had specifically ordered should not be in the public domain ( such as details of charges against the defendants that had been dropped ), and were not in breach of reporting restrictions.
The judge considered the content of his broadcast, and the real risk of his actions derailing the trial, and committed him to prison for 3 months, suspended for a period of 18 months. In practical terms, a suspended sentence means that the prison sentence (3 months) hangs over you for the operational period (18 months). If you remain offence-free and comply with any requirements the court makes, you will never have to serve your sentence. If you reoffend, the presumption in law is that you will serve that prison sentence, additional to whatever sentence you receive for the new offence.
But there has not, until today, been mainstream coverage of the case due to a reporting restriction – what is known as a “postponement order” – that forbade publication of these facts until after the conclusion of the trial upon which he was purporting to “report”.
The courts have confirmed that it covers situations where, for example, there are reasonable grounds to fear that a demonstrator or protestor is likely to incite violence, even violence against themselves. This appears to be applicable to the present case. Robinson provocatively filming defendants and streaming on Facebook for the edification of his cult, is the kind of thing which could, it might be argued, lead to a breach of the peace.
There is nothing unusual in him being dealt with on the day of the contempt. Courts are required to deal with contempts as swiftly as possible. There is no suggestion of any prejudice; Yaxley-Lennon was legally represented by an experienced barrister and would have received full legal advice.
RIGHT wing activist Tommy Robinson is no stranger to controversy and is a frequent guest at her Majesty’s courts and prisons.
DON'T FALL FOR IT 1 In September , Robinson appeared under his real name, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, to face a fresh hearing over the allegation. 2 On October 9, he posed with a group of young soldiers prompting a probe from the Armed Forces. 3 2019: On February 26 Facebook announced that his official Facebook and Instagram profiles have been removed after he "repeatedly" broke their standards on "organised hate". 4 July 11, he was jailed for nine months over contempt of court.
In September , Robinson appeared under his real name, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, to face a fresh hearing over the allegation.
He shouted at defendants as they were going into court, asking if they had their prison bags ready. He commented unfavourably on the defendants’ demeanour after he bated them. He read out a list of charges which he said that the defendants were facing, although it seems he included allegations that were not in fact proceeded with. He called a passer-by a “scumbag.” From time to time he threw in the word “alleged,” although generally with a leer, as though the very notion that a defendant might be innocent was too absurd to be taken seriously.
Mr Robinson was represented by counsel. He does not appear to have disputed that he was in contempt, but he pleaded ignorance of the law – mitigation, of course, rather than a defence – and through counsel apologised for his behaviour.
No, he was represented by two counsel. They were not run of the mill hacks like Barristerblogger, and one of them, Richard Kovalevsky QC, is indisputably one of the country’s top criminal barristers. His citation in The Legal 500 strongly recommends him, for his “strategic treatment of difficult issues and collegiate approach,” as well as his “out-of-the-box thinking” which can be “a game-changer.’
No, it’s not even slightly unusual. The crime for which someone is prosecuted often bears no resemblance to what they were originally arrested for. The Yorkshire Ripper, for example, was originally arrested for having a false numberplate, before being prosecuted for multiple murders.
On 10 May 2017, Robinson was charged with contempt of court, and convicted. He had filmed inside Canterbury Crown Court and posted prejudicial statements calling the defendants "Muslim child rapists" while the jury was deliberating. Judge Heather Norton said Robinson used "pejorative language in his broadcast which prejudged the outcome of the case and could have had the effect of sub…
Robinson's birth name is Stephen Christopher Yaxley. The name Tommy Robinson is a pseudonym taken from a prominent member of the "Men In Gear" (MIG) football hooligan crew, which follows Luton Town Football Club. The nom de guerre successfully hid Robinson's identity as Stephen Yaxley-Lennon and his criminal history, until the connection was uncovered in July 2010 by Searchlight magazine.
Robinson was born Stephen Christopher Yaxley in Luton, England. In an interview with Victoria Derbyshire on BBC Radio Five live in 2010, he said that his parents "were Irish immigrants to this country". His mother, who worked at a local bakery, remarried when Robinson was still young; his stepfather, Thomas Lennon, worked at the Vauxhall car plant in Luton.
According to Robinson, after leaving school he applied to study aircraft engineering at Luton Airp…
From 2004 to 2005, Robinson was a member of the far-right British National Party (BNP).
In September 2018, Robinson expressed a desire to join the UK Independence Party (UKIP). On 23 November 2018, UKIP leader Gerard Batten appointed Robinson as his own advisor. In response, the former UKIP leader Nigel Farage described Robinson as a "thug" and said he was heartbroken with the direction UKIP was going. Farage and a Welsh Assembly member called for Batten to be …
Robinson has received in excess of £2m in donations and sponsorship, much of it from foreign sources.
In 2017, the American billionaire Robert Shillman funded a paid fellowship at the rightwing Canadian website Rebel Media, with Robinson receiving over $6,000 (£5,000) per month.
In 2018, Robinson received £2m in donations that were sought by opponents of his imprisonme…