SENTENCED |
Passing sentence, Mr Justice Johnson said the breaches of the injunction were not "accidental, negligent or merely reckless" and that the "custodial threshold is amply crossed.”
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British far-right activist Tommy Robinson has been jailed for 18 months after admitting contempt of court by repeating false allegations against a Syrian refugee, in breach of an injunction.
The anti-immigration campaigner, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, admitted 10 breaches of a London High Court order made in 2021 at the start of a hearing at Woolwich Crown Court on Monday.
Lawyers for the Solicitor General claimed the 41-year-old had been "thumbing his nose at the court" and "undermining" the rule of law, including by publishing a film called Silenced, which contains the libellous allegations, last year.
Barristers for Robinson, who wore a grey suit and white shirt, said it was his "principles that have brought him before the court".
Passing sentence, Mr Justice Johnson said the breaches of the injunction were not "accidental, negligent or merely reckless" and that the "custodial threshold is amply crossed.”
He said: "It was a planned, deliberate, direct, flagrant breach of the court's orders."
He continued: "Nobody is above the law. Nobody can pick and choose which injunctions they obey and those they do not."
He added: "It is in the interests of the whole community that injunctions are obeyed."
Robinson stood with his hands on the edge of the dock and...
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