Tommy Robinson has admitted spreading fake news about ‘Muslim gangs’ at the school where a Syrian refugee was ‘waterboarded’ by bullies.

The English Defence League founder filmed a seven-minute rant today claiming five Muslim pupils had attacked a 13-year-old white boy.

He said the boy’s mother had sent him photos of his ‘injuries’ and he claimed there was a media blackout on Muslim gangs beating up white children in schools.

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video

Tommy Robinson accuses ‘Muslim gangs’ of terrorising white children at the school in Huddersfield (Picture: Facebook)

But it appears someone had been stringing him along.


He admitted to his 970,000 followers on Facebook: ‘I have been completely had, how embarrassing man.

‘I had a woman, and I’ll show you our screenshots, messaging me all morning about what had happened to her son.



‘It turns out some leftie is sitting somewhere absolutely mugging me completely off and laughing about it.

‘So yeah, fake news central.

‘It turns out the “13-year-old boy” who had been jumped by five Muslims wasn’t her son.’

Jamal, 15, gives the thumbs up outside Almondbury Community School in Huddersfield (Picture: Dan Rowlands / SWNS)

The far-right activist also claimed the 15-year-old Syrian refugee, who has been named as Jamal, allegedly ‘attacked a white girl’.

He is still standing by those claims, despite Jamal’s lawyer Mohammed Akunjee saying the family is considering bringing legal action against him.

Robinson earlier said ‘everyone is terrified’ of Muslim gangs at Almondbury School in Huddersfield.

He said the 16-year-old boy, who was charged with assault after the attack on Jamal, is ‘living in complete fear and the whole country has turned on him’.

In a Facebook Live video, Robinson fumed over the sympathy shown to the Syrian refugee victim and his family.

Robinson said: ‘Imagine being in that school, you have lots of Muslim gangs beating up lots of young English kids, not one-on-one but gangs booting the hell out of them.

Jamal, 15, said ‘thanks’ to all the protesters (Picture: Dan Rowlands / SWNS)

Jamal, 15, was greeted by supporters outside his school (Picture: Dan Rowlands / SWNS)

‘Then you decide to make a stand against this kid and you go up and grab him, then what happens? The whole world turns against him.’

He also hit out at what he called ‘bearded Muslim men’ outside the school holding a demonstration in solidarity with Jamal and his family.

Jamal appeared outside his school today and said ‘thanks’ to around 30 protesters.

He smiled as he was brought there by his father, who also thanked the public.

Jamal revealed last night that he has been tormented by bullies for the past two years.

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video

The boy said he pleaded with his father not to send him back to his school following the attack in October.

He told ITV News: ‘When I saw everyone looking at this video I felt ashamed of myself and why it happened. I was really upset about that.

‘I was feeling like I couldn’t study or do my homework. I woke up at night and just started crying because of this problem.

‘They think I’m different, different from them.’

Disturbing new footage also emerged yesterday showing the boy’s sister being attacked on the same day the first video went viral.

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video

One of the bullies shoves the girl from behind (Picture: Omar Hamed Hussein/Facebook)

The girl is thrown to the floor by the bully (Picture: Omar Hamed Hussein/Facebook)

The young girl is wearing a pink hijab as she is shoved by two other girls and pushed to the ground.



A child filming the incident appears to be cheering on the bullies as they repeatedly shout ‘go on’.

Her family fled the Syrian city of Homs, which was under siege from May 2011 to 2014, after protests erupted against the rule of Bashar al-Assad.

But since arriving in the UK in the hope of a better life, both the boy and his 14-year-old sister have been bullied, with the younger child having her hijab torn off in the playground.

The family’s lawyer Mr Akunjee told Mail Online: ‘Last Friday she tried to self harm with a piece of glass on her wrists.

‘She has been abused for around a year and a half and some of it has been racial referring to ‘Arabs’ and where she care from.’

He added: ‘The same day the video went viral on social media of [the boy] being attacked, his sister was also attacked.

‘She had her headscarf ripped off in the playground. This is despite us complaining to the school about the abuse.’

Got a story for Metro.co.uk? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. For more stories like this, check our news page.