https://bridge.georgetown.edu/research/ ... y-robinson
In October 2018, a video was posted on social media showing schoolchildren harass and violently assault Jamal Hijazi, a 15 year old Syrian schoolboy in Huddersfield, England. As the video went viral, Robinson put out two videos of his own claiming that Hijazi was “not innocent” and accused him of attacking “young English girls in his school.” Hijazi’s lawyer stated that Robinson’s videos on social media “turned Jamal into the aggressor, and the bully into a righteous white knight,” and that Robinson “tried to use Jamal’s case as a platform for one of his anti-Muslim rants.” In 2021, Hijazi sued Robinson for libel, seeking up to £190,000 in damages. During the trial, Robinson declared himself bankrupt. In closing statements of the trial, Hijazi’s lawyer noted that “We do rely on the defendant’s [Tommy Robinson] agenda, which we say is an anti-Muslim one, which is why he waded into this … Jamal was the victim of that.” Robinson defended himself at the trial and maintained that his comments were substantially true. In July 2021, Robinson lost the case and the judge ordered him to pay £100,000 in libel damages to Hijazi.
In July 2024, Robinson spoke at a demonstration he organized where he screened his documentary, against court orders. The documentary repeated false accusations he made about a Syrian refugee in 2021 that led to him losing a court case. A few days later, Robinson fled abroad, evading court hearings over showing the banned documentary.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c704eedkqkvo
Tommy Robinson jailed for contempt of court
28 October 2024
Far-right activist Tommy Robinson has been jailed for 18 months after admitting contempt of court by repeating false claims against a Syrian refugee.
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, admitted 10 breaches of a High Court order made in 2021, during a hearing at Woolwich Crown Court. Lawyers for the solicitor general accused the 41-year-old of "undermining" the rule of law.
Passing sentence, Judge Mr Justice Johnson said the breaches of the injunction, which prevented Yaxley-Lennon from repeating the allegations, were not “accidental, negligent or merely reckless” and the custodial threshold was "amply crossed”. Eventually, this July, the anti-Islam activist showed the film to thousands of his supporters in London's Trafalgar Square, saying he would not be silenced. The following day he left the country.
Aidan Eardley KC, for Solicitor General Sarah Sackman, told the court that Yaxley-Lennon had intended to repeat the false allegations, despite the injunction, and then take “evasive” measures.
“This is a high culpability case because of the high number of breaches,” said Mr Eardley. Jailing Yaxley-Lennon for 18 months, Mr Justice Johnson said: “In a democratic society underpinned by the rule of law, court orders must be obeyed. “Nobody is above the law. Nobody can pick or choose which laws or which injunctions they obey, or which they do not. “They are not entitled to set themselves up as the judge in their own court. Otherwise the administration of justice and rule of law would break down.”