Tommy Robinson loses appeal against sentence

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Tommy Robinson has lost a Court of Appeal challenge against the length of his prison sentence for contempt of court.

The far-right political activist, 42, was jailed for 18 months in October last year after admitting breaching a 2021 High Court order banning him from repeating false allegations against a Syrian refugee who successfully sued him for libel.

Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was told his sentence would be shortened by four months if he “purged” the contempt by removing the claims from his social media accounts.

He unpinned a film called Silenced, containing the libellous allegations, from the top of his profile on X shortly before a Court of Appeal hearing challenging the sentence last week.

His lawyer Alisdair Williamson KC told judges Robinson has suffered an “evident decline in his mental health” after being held in segregation at Woodhill prison in Milton Keynes.

“He is being kept safe by the authorities in segregation, but being kept safe is making him ill,” he said.

The court heard Robinson is suffering from complex PTSD and has been diagnosed with ADHD, and his barrister said his prison conditions mean he can’t “regulate his emotions”.

His phone contact has been restricted “because of the way he conducted himself on the telephone” on two occasions, the court heard.

Aidan Eardley KC, for the Solicitor General, said it was “in his gift” for Robinson to shorten his own sentence by removing the film from social media and preventing its dissemination.

If he did, his release date would be brought forward from 26 July to the end of May, the court heard.

But Mr Eardley said Robinson “remains defiantly in breach” of the order with further publication of his film occurring “every time it is viewed” and is asking for an “indulgence”.

Judges Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr, Lord Justice Edis and Lord Justice Warby dismissed Robinson’s appeal in a written 15-page ruling on Wednesday.

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A summary of their judgment said they did not find Robinson’s prison conditions were “harsher or more onerous” than sentencing judge Mr Justice Johnson had foreseen at the time.

“The appellant had in fact been able to associate with others by email, by telephone, and in person, to a considerable extent,” it said.

They also said the medical evidence “did not show either a significant exacerbation of a known medical condition or a material new factor”.

A spokesperson for the Attorney General’s Office said: “Stephen Yaxley-Lennon repeatedly ignored judges’ orders and continued to spread libellous allegations.

“His 18-month sentence reflected how gravely the court considers contempt.”

It is Robinson’s second court defeat in less than a month after his failed bid to challenge his ongoing segregation on similar grounds.

The court heard he was being held in a “closed unit” after intelligence suggested he “would be killed by a lifer if located on a wing”.

Details of his privileges, including hundreds of emails, dozens of visits and 1,250 phone calls emerged in a statement from the prison governor.

The Court of Appeal was told last week he orders his daily meals on a laptop and has a television “but complains he can’t watch GB News on it”.