Tommy Robinson has always thought he's above the law - his sentencing proves actions have consequences

28 October 2024, 19:04

Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (aka Tommy Robinson) is heading to prison for 18 months after pleading guilty to breaking a 2018 High Court order for repeating libellous claims against a young Syrian refugee, Jamal Hijazi.

Yaxley-Lennon had lost a libel case, was ordered to pay damages and to never repeat the libellous accusations again. Not only did Lennon not pay damages (he filed bankruptcy instead) but he continued to profit from Jamal’s pain.

We at HOPE not hate spent hundreds of hours gathering an 86-page dossier documenting how Yaxley-Lennon travelled the world from Spain to the Bahamas sharing his film Silenced which repeats the libellous claims about Jamal.

We knew he had broken the injunction multiple times, and had the evidence to prove it. It was as a result of our dossier and the support of 15,000 people that Contempt of Court charges were laid on Yaxley-Lennon by the Attorney General.

Yaxley-Lennon was fully aware of the consequences of violating the injunction, which is why he initially lied about his involvement in the film's release.

When faced with our mountain of evidence, Yaxley-Lennon threw caution to the wind and publicly broke the injunction. He showed Silenced - which repeats the libellous claims about Jamal - at a July 2024 demonstration in London in front of up to 30,000 people.

As the court ruling today said, his breaking of the injunction was considered, deliberate, and planned.

It seems clear that now that Yaxley-Lennon is going to prison, the movement will struggle with no other obvious leader. Saturday’s lacklustre and poorly attended demonstration was proof of that. 

Yaxley-Lennon has been a poster boy for the far right, but there is no one organisation leading the charge. Instead we are in a ‘post-organisational’ period of the far right which includes influencers, activists, and so-called citizen journalists.

Over the last few years, Yaxley-Lennon has become noticeably more extreme and conspiratorial - a pattern you can see in the wider far-right movement.

Yaxley-Lennon is radicalising young people to believe in his extreme far-right narrative, much like his close associate Andrew Tate.

Stephen Yaxley-Lennon has always thought that he is above the law and that he can operate by his own rules.

Today’s verdict proves that Lennon’s actions have consequences, and goes some way to delivering justice for Jamal Hijazi.

We at HOPE not hate will continue our work in fighting the far right in all its forms.

_________________

Nick Lowles is CEO at HOPE not hate.

LBC Views provides a platform for diverse opinions on current affairs and matters of public interest.

The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official LBC position.

To contact us email views@lbc.co.uk