Julian Assange has suffered one of his worst days in the long-running battle that began with publication of classified documents in 2010.

His actions — and the defence of them — were forensically pulled apart by District Court Judge Emma Arbuthnot in a 30-minute judgment that left his supporters reeling.

Ms Arbuthnot said the WikiLeaks founder, holed up in Ecuador's London embassy, lacked "courage".

"Defendants on bail up and down the country, and requested persons facing extradition, come to court to face the consequences of their own choices," she said.

"He should have the courage to do so too."

The public gallery was full of journalists and supporters, some of whom stood along the wall and sat on the stairs.

There were gasps in the gallery from Mr Assange's backers as the judge laid out her blistering assessment of his legal team's arguments.

But it was more than that.

At times it felt like a character assessment that went beyond what was needed for this ruling.

"The impression I have, and this may well be dispelled if and when Mr Assange finally appears in court, is that he is a man who wants to impose his terms on the course of justice, whether the course of justice is in this jurisdiction or in Sweden," Ms Arbuthnot read from her prepared ruling.

Sorry, this video has expired Julian Assange loses appeal against long-standing arrest warrant

The hearing was the second attempt by Mr Assange to have the arrest warrant hanging over him removed.

It has been in place since 2012, when he skipped bail after being wanted for questioning in Sweden over alleged sex assault allegations.

He has argued that he feared extradition to the US and that the end game was to see him punished for WikiLeaks' work.

But the judge didn't accept that either.

"I do not accept that Sweden would have rendered Mr Assange to the United States," she said.

"If that had happened there would have been a diplomatic crisis between the UK, Sweden and the US, which would have affected international relationships and extradition proceedings between the states."

And she said if the US had asked for his extradition he could have appealed that through the British court system.

The judge said she does not believe Assange lacks sunlight, following balcony photos. ( AP: Matt Dunham, file photo )

'She doesn't know what she's talking about'

In 2016, a UN working group released a report which said Mr Assange was being arbitrarily detained in the Ecuadorian embassy.

It had been celebrated at the time by Mr Assange and his supporters, who believed it might prove to be the breakthrough they needed.

But Judge Arbuthnot pulled that apart as well — telling the UN it had "misunderstood" Mr Assange's situation.

Over 10 pages, Judge Arbuthnot dissected and dismissed each of the arguments put forward by Mr Assange's lawyers.

At the end of the hearing his supporters walked out of court, visibly shell-shocked.

"She doesn't know what she's talking about," one of them said.

Inside the building, Mr Assange's lawyer Gareth Peirce waited with two other colleagues who regularly checked to see if the waiting media downstairs had moved on.

She told some reporters in an informal gathering in the courtroom immediately after the decision that he found it "baffling".

Some supporters headed to the embassy where there was an attempt at a rally cry.

"Media, lend us your ears," someone shouted.

But the cold and miserable conditions eventually got the better of them too.

Mr Assange had followed the proceedings online in real time, tweeting and disputing much of what was said.

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There is the possibility of an appeal and Mr Assange has given every indication that will happen.

But this was a bad day for Mr Assange, who appears to be running out of options to leave the Ecuadorian embassy and not face arrest.

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