Tommy Robinson to be freed from jail next week as sentence reduced by four months in High Court appeal
20 May 2025, 11:06
Tommy Robinson will be released from prison next week after his sentence for contempt of court was reduced in a successful High Court appeal.
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The far-right anti-Islam activist was jailed for the civil offence of contempt of court in October last year, after admitting 10 breaches of a High Court order made in 2021.
The order barred Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, from repeating false allegations against a Syrian refugee who successfully sued him for libel.
He was due to be released on July 26, but will now be freed within a week after his application for a reduced sentence was granted.
At his sentencing hearing, Robinson was told his sentence included a four month ‘coercive’ element, which would be taken off if the 42-year-old ‘purged’ his contempt.
Robinson applied to purge his contempt at a hearing on Tuesday, with his lawyers telling the court that he had shown a "commitment" to comply with the order.
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Lawyers for the Solicitor General said they agreed that Robinson had taken steps to adhere to the injunction.
In a ruling, Mr Justice Johnson said that there was an "absence of contrition or remorse" from Robinson, but that he had shown a "change in attitude" since he was sentenced.
He said: "He (Robinson) has given an assurance that he will comply with the injunction in the future, that he has no intention of breaching it again, and that he is aware of the consequences of what would happen if he breached the injunction again."
He continued: "I consider it appropriate to grant the application."
He added: "The practical effect, subject to confirmation by the prison authorities, is that the defendant will be released once he has completed the punitive element, which I understand will be within the next week."
Robinson, who attended the hearing via video-link from HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes, showed no immediate reaction once the judgment was handed down.
Tommy Robinson jailed for 18 months after admitting contempt of court
He was jailed last year for 10 admitted breaches of the injunction, after the Solicitor General issued two contempt claims against him.
The first alleged he "knowingly" breached the order on four occasions, including by having "published, caused, authorised or procured" a film called Silenced, which contains the libellous allegations, in May 2023.
The film was pinned to the top of Robinson's profile on the social media site X, where he has more than 1 million followers.
He also repeated the libellous claims in three interviews between February and June 2023.
The second claim was issued in August last year and concerned six further breaches, including playing the film at a demonstration in Trafalgar Square in central London last summer.
After being jailed, Robinson lost a bid to bring a legal challenge against the Ministry of Justice over his segregation from other prisoners behind bars in March.
He then lost a challenge to his sentence at the Court of Appeal in April, but three senior judges said he could "still reduce the period he has to spend in custody by taking the steps identified" by Mr Justice Johnson.
The injunction was issued after Robinson was successfully sued by Jamal Hijazi, a then-schoolboy who was assaulted at Almondbury Community School in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, in October 2018.
After a clip of the incident went viral, Robinson made false claims on Facebook, including about Mr Hijazi attacking girls in his school, leading to the libel case.
Mr Justice Nicklin ordered Robinson to pay Mr Hijazi £100,000 in damages and his legal costs, as well as making the injunction preventing Robinson from repeating the allegations.
