Why has Tommy Robinson been jailed and what’s his sentencing?

RIGHT wing activist Tommy Robinson is no stranger to controversy and is a frequent guest at her Majesty’s courts and prisons.

Let’s take a closer look at the controversial figure’s life.

What has Tommy Robinson done?

• 1982: Born in the working class town of Luton, Bedfordshire
• 2003: Robinson was fired from his engineering job at Luton Airport for punching an off-duty police officer during a drunken row
• 2009: He co-founded the English Defence League claiming the activist group was opposed to the spread of “militant Islam”.
• 2011: Robinson was convicted of using “threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour” during a 100-man fight between football supporters in Luton.
• Following that conviction, he was ordered to complete 150 hours of community service and banned for three years from attending football matches.
• In September, he was arrested again at an EDL demonstration in East London after being banned from attending the protest as part of his bail conditions.
• While being held in custody at HM Prison Bedford, the controversial activist went on hunger strike reportedly claiming to be a “political prisoner of the state” while refusing to eat food he believed was “halal”.
• He was released before his trial, but was then convicted of common assault on September 29, after headbutting an EDL member at an event in April in Blackburn in north west England.
• Robinson was handed a 12 week sentence which was suspended for 12 months.
• In November of that year, he was arrested at Fifa headquarters in Zurich after protesting a decision to stop the England football team wearing poppies on their shirts.
• He was jailed for three days and fined £3,000.
• 2012: In October, Robinson was arrested after entering the United States illegally using another person’s passport.
• 2013: In January, he was sentenced to 10 months in jail for his passport fraud conviction.
• On February 22, he was released but was ordered to wear an electronic tag.
• 2014: He was jailed for 18 months for committing mortgage fraud.
• After being released on parole, he was recalled to prison in October 2014 for breaching the terms of his licence before he was scheduled to talk at the Oxford Union.
• He was released again in November 2014
• 2017: Robinson was captured on film repeatedly punching a man in the head at Royal Ascot.
• 2018: The activist was banned from Twitter on March 28 for breaching the social media platform’s “hateful conduct” policy.
• Robinson was jailed for 13 months for contempt of court on May 25.
• On August 1, Robinson was released on bail after winning his challenge to his contempt of court conviction.
• In September, Robinson appeared under his real name, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, to face a fresh hearing over the allegation.
• On October 9, he posed with a group of young soldiers prompting a probe from the Armed Forces.
• 2019: On February 26 Facebook announced that his official Facebook and Instagram profiles have been removed after he “repeatedly” broke their standards on “organised hate”.
• July 11, he was jailed for nine months over contempt of court.

Why was he jailed in July 2019?

Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, 36, was jailed for nine months on July 11, 2019 after being found guilty of contempt for live-streaming a video outside a child grooming trial.

He was found to have “encouraged mob rule” when he breached a reporting restriction over the case.

Robinson’s sentence will see him serve about two month and a half months in prison on time served as he will be released on licence after ten weeks.

Dramatic footage outside court also showed supporters letting off smoke bombs and throwing drinks across the crowds.

Robinson had previously claimed in court he would be killed in revenge attacks if he was put behind bars.

Katie Hopkins was among those to support Robinson today, pictured hugging him before he walked inside.

It comes after Robinson’s supporters faced off with cops last week when he was found guilty of committing contempt of court. 

The two-day hearing at the Old Bailey found the 36-year-old jeopardised the grooming trial by live-streaming men accused of the sexual exploitation of young girls on Facebook, in breach of a reporting ban, outside Leeds Crown Court in May 2018.

What’s his real name and why did he change it?

Robinson’s real name is Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon, but he has been known to use several aliases, including Andrew McMaster and Paul Harris.

He claims he started using multiple identities during his time with the EDL for protection after threats of violence against him.

He headed the group from 2009 until October 8, 2013 when he was persuaded to leave the organisation after speaking with anti-extremist think tank Quilliam.

Robinson later went on to claim he was paid £2,000 per month for Quilliam to take credit for his leaving the EDL.

In 2015, he was also involved with the founding of the UK branch of German anti-Islam pressure group Pegida.

But he stepped down from his role with this organisation as well, saying he wanted it to be more “middle-class” than the EDL.

He now works as a journalist for Canadian right-wing news organisation The Rebel Media and owns a sunbed shop in his home town of Luton.

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