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Full footage of Tommy Robinson punching a man to the ground at Ascot Racecourse shows the bloodied victim barely able to walk after the sickening fight.

The extended tape, released exclusively to the Mirror Online, shows the ex-EDL leader battering a fellow reveller at around 7pm on Saturday.

Mr Robinson this afternoon claimed he was acting in self-defence after being attacked by the victim.

But coach driver Asif Idris, 40, who drove Tommy to the event, claims he was NOT acting in self-defence.

He said Tommy - whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon - threw the first punch and then fled the scene, leaving his wife and friends to travel home without him.

In the footage, 34-year-old Mr Robinson - wearing a black suit and shirt - can be seen glancing behind him as he walks unaccompanied towards the coach.

Shortly afterwards, the victim walks past the front of the vehicle, wearing a patterned tie with sunglasses on his head.

The pair disappear from view for a few moments before bursting back onto the screen. Tommy throws around seven punches towards the man's head as he falls to the floor before three other men step in.

The battered victim then staggers into the arms of friends and struggles to stand as he is carried away.

Mr Idris, from Birmingham, said the incident appeared to begin as a verbal disagreement but was escalated by Tommy - who he says seemed "pretty sober".

Do you know the man punched by Tommy Robinson? Call Mirror Online on 02072933018

(Image: Asif Idris /Daily Mirror) (Image: Asif Idris /Daily Mirror) (Image: Asif Idris /Daily Mirror)

"At first I thought Tommy and this man were friends," Mr Idris said. "They were both walking towards the coach and everything seemed normal. It was only as they got close to the door that I realised they were having a disagreement.

"I didn't hear what the argument was about but I just heard Tommy saying 'f*** off' three or four times. Then suddenly he turned to the man and you could see he was getting ready to hit him - he had his fist clenched. That's what caught my eye.

"I thought 'they can't be friends'. Tommy threw the first punch and then when the guy fell to the ground he kept punching.

"Friends from both sides got involved to pull them apart and one of Tommy's friends dislocated his finger. He had to be treated by a St John's Ambulance which was right next to my coach.

"The man Tommy hit looked about 24 or 25 and was quite drunk. Tommy looked pretty sober."

(Image: Viral Press) (Image: Viral Press) (Image: Asif Idris /Daily Mirror)

Mr Idris said Tommy's claims that he was acting in self-defence are "not true".

"It was not self-defence," he said. "His wife was already on the bus. Maybe they [Tommy and the unidentified man] were having a disagreement and I can't say if the man had been aggressive to him earlier in the evening, but when they were in front of my coach it was Tommy who started the violence.

"He did not get hit in the back of the head or dragged from the coach. That did not happen."

Mr Idris said he refused to let Tommy back on the coach because of his behaviour.

(Image: Asif Idris/Daily Mirror) (Image: ITV)

"He tried to tell me the man had ripped his jacket pocket and the fight was not his fault, but I told him I had witnessed the whole thing," Mr Idris said.

"I told him he was not allowed on and so he ran off. One of his friends followed him but he never came back. I took his wife and friends home and they were really nice and polite."

In a tweet, Mr Robinson insisted he had been acting in "self-defence".

A tweet to his account said: "This is regarding an edited video being shared online regarding Tommy. Tommy was at the races with his wife. This man followed them both to their coach abusing them.

"Tommy and his wife went to board the coach but the man was not finished, he attacked Tommy and dragged him from the coach. The man followed, instigated and attacked Tommy when he was with his wife. Tommy acted in self-defence."

Earlier this week, Mr Robinson sparked outrage after he was accused of stirring up hatred in the wake of the Finsbury Park terror attack.

In a furious debate with Piers Morgan on Good Morning Britain , Robinson was branded a "bigoted lunatic" who was a "complete disgrace".

The pair clashed after Mr Robinson accused the Finsbury Park mosque of 'creating terrorists' just an hour after people were mown down as they left their evening prayers.

Piers slammed the far-right figure for 'whipping up anti-Islam' feelings during the heated interview.