TOMMY Robinson has been jailed for 18 months after showing a film containing insults about a Syrian refugee.
The 41-year-old, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, appeared at Woolwich Crown Court today after breaching a 2021 High Court order banning him from repeating false claims about the then schoolboy.
Far-right activist Robinson was charged with contempt of court for “publishing, causing, authorizing or acquiring” a film titled Silenced, which contained defamatory allegations.
The attorney general said he “knowingly” violated the order on four occasions.
WHY WAS TOMMY ROBINSON JAILED? Robinson breached a 2021 High Court order barring him from repeating false claims about then-schoolboy Jamal Hijazi, who successfully sued him for defamation.
The attorney general issued the first contempt of court action against Robinson in June of this year, alleging that he “knowingly” violated the order on four occasions.
Robinson pleaded guilty to the charges in court last October.
Lawyers previously told the judge that the violations included Robinson’s “publication, cause, authorization or acquisition” of a film titled Silenced, which contained defamatory allegations, last May.
A second request was issued in August and related to six further breaches, including showing the film at protests in central London’s Trafalgar Square earlier this year, which lawyers for the Attorney General said at an earlier hearing was a “flagrant” breach of the court order.
Aidan Eardley KC, the Attorney General, said the film had been seen “very widely”, including being seen by 2.2 million people after it was re-staged by Andrew Tate.
And, he said in written submissions that by the time the second claim was issued, he “had 44 million hits on X alone.”
He claimed that all paragraphs of the ban were violated “at one point or another” by the film.
The penalty for contempt of court can be up to two years in prison in the Crown Court or one month in the Magistrates’ Court.
WHAT IS CONTEMPT OF COURT? Contempt of court is a legal term that describes behavior that obstructs the judicial process or risks unfairly influencing a court case, according to Gov.uk.
Failure to comply with a court order. This could include a party to the litigation breaching a freezing order, a protester entering land prohibited by the ban or someone breaching the terms of an Anti-Social Behavior Ban (ASBI).
Disrupting court proceedings This may include disrupting the hearing, abusing court staff or witnesses, or shouting in court.
Unauthorized recording This may include making or publishing audio recordings of court proceedings without the court’s permission.
Publicly commenting on a court case This may include social media posts or online newspaper articles that could affect the course of justice.
Taking photos or videos in court Taking photos or videos in a courtroom, courthouse or its premises or publishing such photos or videos is usually a criminal offence.
WHAT HAS BEEN SILENCED? A film containing false and defamatory claims about Mr. Hijazi, which Robinson was forbidden to repeat, was hushed up.
Sasha Wass KC, for Robinson, told the court the production of the film was funded by Infowars, a company run by American Alex Jones, who claimed the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre was a hoax.
The activist played the film at the protests in Trafalgar Square in central London.
It also remains pinned to the top of Robinson’s X social network profile, while he also repeated the claims in three interviews between February and June 2023.
Mr Eardley said the film had been seen “very widely”, including being seen by 2.2 million people after it was re-staged by Andrew Tate.
And, he said in written submissions that by the time the second claim was issued, he “had 44 million hits on X alone.”
He claimed that all paragraphs of the ban were violated “at one point or another” by the film.
Mr Eardley said in written submissions that the court “can be assured that the defendant was responsible for the release of the film” and “also intended it to be distributed as widely as possible through other channels”.
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Source: HIS Education