Tommy Robinson is going back to prison for contempt of court after he filmed defendants in a criminal trial (Picture: PA; Alamy Live; SWNS)

Tommy Robinson has been jailed for nine months for filming defendants in a grooming gang trial and live streaming the footage to Facebook.

Robinson, 36, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was found to have committed contempt of court on Friday after a two-day hearing at the Old Bailey.

Sentencing him today, judge Dame Victoria Sharp said: ‘We are in no doubt that the custody threshold is passed in this case.’

The nine month jail sentence includes six months for filming outside Leeds Crown Court last year and three months for an incident at Canterbury Crown Court the year before.


After deduction for time served in prison last year for the same offence, the sentence in practice amounts to 19 weeks – and he will be released on licence after 10.



Speaking after the sentencing, the Attorney General said: ‘Today’s sentencing of Yaxley-Lennon serves to illustrate how seriously the courts will take matters of contempt.

‘Posting material online that breaches reporting restrictions or risks prejudicing legal proceedings has consequences, and I would urge everyone to think carefully about whether their social media posts could amount to contempt of court.’

Robinson arrived late at court this morning carrying an overnight bag and wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the words: ‘Convicted of journalism.’

Reporters in court said he had changed his shirt once inside as the letters were no longer visible when Robinson faced judges.

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Robinson arrived at court with an overnight bag and a t-shirt with the words ‘convicted of journalism’ (Picture: Sky News)

Robinson was late to his hearing this morning due to crowds of supporters (Picture: PA)

Far-right former radio host Katie Hopkins made sure to give Robinson a hug before he entered the court (Picture: SWNS)

Robinson told Katy Hopkins ‘reporting restrictions are used to prevent the public being aware of what’s happening’ (Picture: PA)

Robinson breached a reporting ban when he filmed Huddersfield grooming gang defendants (Picture: PA)

At the start of the hearing, his barrister Richard Furlong apologised for his client’s late arrival, blaming ‘a number of people outside who are here to support him’.

Dame Victoria replied: ‘Well, it’s not a very good start, is it?’

The former English Defence League founder was found in contempt in three respects when he filmed men accused of the sexual exploitation of young girls, in breach of a reporting ban, outside Leeds Crown Court in May 2018.

He has 11 previous convictions for violence, public order offences, fraud and disobedience of court orders.

After he was found in contempt, Robinson released a video of himself begging President Donald Trump to grant him ‘political asylum’ in the US, claiming he would be killed if he was put in prison in Britain.

He said: ‘I beg Donald Trump, I beg the American government, to look at my case.

‘I feel like I’m two days away from being sentenced to death in the UK.’

His appeal continued: ‘I need evacuation from this country because dark forces are at work.’

Angry scenes between police and protesters after the sentencing (Picture: Alamy)

Protesters appear to set off smoke bombs in front of police (Picture: Twitter/JackBridges)

Police tried to shield themselves from the smoke (Picture: Twitter/JackBridges)

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Violent clashes broke out outside court as news of the sentence filtered through (Picture: Getty)

Robinson supporters react to riot police after he was jailed for nine months (Picture: PA)

Yaxley-Lennon was found guilty of filming defendants accused of child sex offences outside Leeds Crown Court and live-streaming the footage on Facebook (Picture: Getty)

Crowds outside court carried banners and chanted the name Robinson (Picture: Getty)

As he was led to the cells at the Old Bailey, Robinson winked at the public gallery and put his fingers up in a V sign for victory.

Robinson’s barrister Richard Furlong raised the possibility of an appeal against the court’s decision on contempt and was told he has 28 days from today to apply.

Outside court, Robinson’s supporters booed as news of his sentence filtered through.

The crowd marched towards the Old Bailey chanting ‘we want Tommy out’ again before some began pelting police with drinks bottles and cans.

Officers donned their helmets as violent clashes erupted.

How Tommy Robinson could have helped keep Huddersfield rape gang on UK streets: Robinson could have helped keep the Huddersfield rape gang on the streets by ignoring reporting restrictions designed to ensure the proceedings were fair. He claimed the activities of the gang were being covered up because the offenders were of Asian origin. In reality, reporting of the case was only being postponed for well-established legal reasons. The restriction was put in place because the defendants were being dealt with in separate trials. In such cases, reporting is sometimes postponed until the final case so jurors cannot be prejudiced by reading accounts of previous trials. In this case, a reporting restriction was in place which postponed the publication of any details of the case until the end of three separate trials – which involved a total of 29 people. The same jury were in place for all three trials due to the connection between the men involved. The reporting restriction was in place to ensure no cross contamination. Robinson broadcast the footage in question while the jury was out considering its verdict in the second trial. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Robinson claimed the cases were being covered up because the men were Muslims. Lawyers for two of the defendants in the grooming gang applied unsuccessfully for the jury to be discharged on May 26, relying on the way Robinson had confronted the defendants and the allegedly prejudicial nature of what had been said. The case could have been dismissed if the application was successful. One of the defendants later went on the run after a protest against Robinson’s arrest and imprisonment, held outside Leeds Crown Court on June 1, was advertised in advance. There was a further application to discharge the jury based on the effects of the demonstration, which was rejected by the judge, and the jury returned their verdicts on June 5, finding the defendants guilty on all counts. Robinson was aware of the potential consequences of his actions at Leeds Crown Court – as he had been given a suspended prison sentence for contempt of court in 2017 after trying to film three Asian men and a teenager who were on trial at Canterbury Crown Court accused of gang-raping a teenage girl.

On Tuesday, Dame Victoria and Mr Justice Warby said Robinson had encouraged ‘vigilante action’ in the video he streamed in Leeds, which lasted an hour-and-a-half and was viewed online 250,000 times on the morning of the broadcast.



Dame Victoria said the words he used in the video would have been understood by viewers as ‘an incitement’ to harass the defendants and ‘gave rise to a real risk the course of justice would be seriously impeded’.

Robinson denied any wrongdoing, saying he did not believe he was breaching reporting restrictions and only referred to information that was already in the public domain.

But the judges found him in contempt because he had breached the reporting restriction imposed, live-streamed the video from outside the public entrance to the court and had been ‘aggressively confronting and filming’ some of the defendants.

Dozens of Robinson supporters gathered in the street outside the Old Bailey this morning ahead of his sentencing.

Some waved Union flags as the crowd chanted ‘We want Tommy out’.

A man with a microphone addressed those gathered, telling them: ‘We’re here for Tommy Robinson’ and ‘Leave our Tommy alone’.

The crowd included a man wearing a Union flag suit and five women on mobility scooters.

Robinson supporters chanted ‘shame on you’ when a man was surrounded by police officers and marched away before the sentencing began.

Robinson supporters chanted his name outside the Old Bailey ahead of his sentencing (Picture: PA)

One supporter was led away in handcuffs (Picture: LNP)

Robinson, of Luton, Bedfordshire, broadcast the footage in question while the jury was considering its verdict in the grooming gang trial.

The video was eventually viewed 3.4 million times after being shared following his arrest.

A reporting restriction was in place which postponed the publication of any details of the case until the end of all the trials – which involved a total of 29 people.


Robinson was jailed for 13 months after being found in contempt of court on the day of the broadcast. He served two months in jail before being freed after the original finding of contempt was overturned by the Court of Appeal in August 2018.

But the case was then referred back to the Attorney General, who announced in March that it was in the public interest to bring fresh proceedings against Robinson.

Anyone found in contempt of court can be jailed for up to two years, receive an unlimited fine, or both.

Tommy Robinson's jail sentences: His criminal record includes violence, financial and immigration frauds, drug possession, public order offences and contempt of court. ASSAULT: In 2005, Robinson was convicted of assaulting an off-duty police officer after he intervened to protect Robinson’s girlfriend from him. He was jailed for 12 months. In 2011, he was given a 12-week jail sentence – suspended for 12 months – for headbutting a man in Blackburn. FALSE IDENTITY: In 2012, Robinson was charged with using false travel documents after entering the US illegally by using a passport with the name Andrew McMaster. A judge told him at the time: ‘What you did went absolutely to the heart of the immigration controls that the US are entitled to have. It’s not in any sense trivial.’ Robinson was jailed for 10 months and released on electronic tag on February 22, 2013. FRAUD: In 2012, Robinson was charged with three counts of conspiracy to commit fraud by misrepresentation in relation to a mortgage application. He pleaded guilty to two charges and was sentenced to 18 months in jail. CONTEMPT OF COURT: In 2017, Robinson received a suspended sentence for putting a trial at Canterbury Crown Court at risk of collapse – after he broadcast statements from inside the court building. In 2018, he was jailed for a similar offence at Leeds Crown Court. However, he was released after successfully challenging the court’s sentencing procedure. In 2019, the attorney general decided that it was in the public interest to bring further proceedings against Robinson. On July 11, he was given a nine-month jail sentence.