Tommy Robinson, known by his real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is facing the possibility of imprisonment following a new contempt of court claim. This claim arises from the screening of a film during a protest in central London. The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) alleges that Robinson breached a High Court order from 2021, which prohibited him from repeating defamatory claims about a Syrian refugee, Jamal Hijazi, who had previously won a libel case against him.
The incident in question involves the film “Silenced,” shown at a demonstration in Trafalgar Square last month. This is one of six alleged breaches of the court order between June and July this year. This new application follows a prior claim made in June, and both cases are scheduled for a hearing on 28 October. Those found guilty of contempt of court could face up to two years in prison, a fine, or both.
Robinson is accused of deliberately violating the court order by publishing and promoting the film “Silenced” in May of the previous year, which contained the banned allegations. Furthermore, it is alleged that he reiterated these claims in three interviews conducted between February and June 2023.
The AGO served Robinson with the latest claim via his X account after it was filed at the High Court on 19 August. Following the protest, Robinson was arrested under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 at the Channel Tunnel in Folkestone. This law allows police to stop individuals at UK ports to ascertain if they are involved in terrorism-related activities. Robinson was detained for not cooperating with the stop.
In July, a court hearing revealed that Robinson had left the UK on unconditional bail, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. However, the warrant was not to be executed until early October, giving Robinson the opportunity to voluntarily attend the next hearing or apply to have the warrant set aside.
The initial court order stemmed from a defamation case where Robinson was ordered to pay £100,000 in damages to Jamal Hijazi after making false claims about him following an assault incident at Almondbury Community School in Huddersfield in 2018. Despite the injunction, Robinson has continued to repeat these allegations, leading to the current legal actions against him.
