UK
Tommy Robinson facing new contempt of court claim
A new contempt of court application has been lodged against Tommy Robinson.
The application relates to alleged breaches of a High Court order from 2021, the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has said.
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is a prominent far-right activist in the UK and law officers allege he breached an injunction barring him from repeating libellous allegations through six actions between June and July this year.
The order came after he lost a legal battle against a Syrian refugee who had sued him for libel.
Robinson was served with the latest contempt application on his X account on Wednesday after it was lodged earlier this month, the AGO said.
Previously, Robinson had an arrest warrant issued for him after he “left the UK” and failed to appear at a hearing in a separate alleged contempt of court case.
Robinson had left the country to go on holiday to Cyprus.
Mr Justice Johnson said at the time he would issue the warrant – but ordered for it not to be carried out at the time to allow Robinson time to indicate that he would attend the next hearing voluntarily, or to apply to “set aside” the warrant.
A hearing for both applications will be held on 28 October.
Robinson was first served with contempt proceedings in June, with the Solicitor General telling a previous court hearing that he “knowingly” breached the order by having “published, caused, authorised or procured” a film in May last year.
It is also claimed Robinson repeated the allegations banned by the injunction in three interviews between February and June 2023.
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The film was then shown again at a demonstration in Trafalgar Square in July this year, which is understood to be part of the alleged breach of the order under the second contempt application.
The day after the protest in central London, Robinson was arrested for the “frustration” of a port stop at the Channel Tunnel at Folkestone under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000.