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The English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson has been jailed for 13 months for contempt of court. Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon, streamed an hour-long Facebook Live outside the court last Friday and within hours it had been watched more than 250,000 times. A court order had been in place temporarily banning any reporting on Robinson's arrest and sentencing hearing, but the Examiner can now reveal the details. In a rare move, he was arrested, charged and sentenced within five hours. Everyone understands the right to freedom of speech but there are responsibilities and obligations.”

The video footage was played to the judge in court before he dealt with Robinson. “He referred to the charges that the defendants faced and some charges which are not proceeded against in relation to some defendants.”

The court heard the footage had received 250,000 views and a story about Robinson’s arrest was the lead article on a national newspaper website. Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon, was sentenced to 10 months for contempt of court and a further three months for breaching the terms of the previous suspended sentence. Jailing him for 13 months, Judge Geoffrey Marson QC told Robinson: “No one could possibly conclude that it would be anything other than highly prejudicial to the defendants in the trial. Robinson’s supporters had posted online that his arrest was an infringement of his freedom of speech. On Sunday Donald Trump Jr, the US president’s son, retweeted one of Robinson’s supporters, adding: “Don’t let America follow in those footsteps.”

The Dutch far-right opposition leader Geert Wilders posted a video on Twitter, filmed from outside the British embassy in The Hague, describing Robinson’s prison sentence as “an absolute disgrace”. He accused the judge of issuing a gagging order and said that freedom of speech was being violated all over Europe.
It is reported today that right-wing British activist Tommy Robinson was sentenced to 13 months in prison for contempt of court within five hours after being arrested outside Leeds Crown Court on 25 May. A ban on reporting his sentence is lifted today following a legal challenge by journalists.