Tommy Robinson won his appeal to reduce his prison sentence at the High Court today and will be released within the next week.
In October, Robinson, 41, real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was jailed for 18 months after breaking a court injunction which barred him from repeating false allegations against a Syrian refugee who sued him for libel.
But sentencing judge at Woolwich Crown Court, Mr Justice Johnson, said Robinson could have his four-month ‘coercive’ sentence taken off if he ‘purged’ his contempt.
Today, lawyers told 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.
He will be released by next week after today’s ruling.
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.
The judge said Robinson could only ‘purge’ his contempt by taking steps such as removing ‘Silenced’ and other publications which breach the injunction from his social media accounts.
Since being jailed, Robinson, who is currently held at HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes, has lost two legal battles related to his imprisonment.
Robinson defied the courts in July last year during a rally in Trafalgar Square and aired the video ‘documentary’, called ‘Silenced’, to his supporters.
The video shows a refugee being assaulted by another pupil in the playground at a school in Huddersfield, which was broadcast despite a judge previously calling it contempt of court.
What is Contempt of Court?
‘Contempt of court’ refers to actions that risk unfairly influencing a legal case, potentially jeopardising a fair trial.
This can include disobeying or ignoring a court order, taking photos or shouting out in court, refusing to answer questions if you’re called as a witness or publicly commenting on a court case, for example, on social media or online news articles.
The film remains 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.
Posting on his X account, he wrote: ‘I’ll be jailed for two years for showing the inconceivable truth.’
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