Tommy Robinson tweeted pictures as he approached what he thought was home of website editor Gary Moon. Only it wasn't

Moon asks Robinson round for tea

As intimidation tactics by a leader of a far-right group go, it sounds scarily effective: using Twitter to invite yourself round to the home of a leading critic for "a chat" before tweeting photos of the person's block of flats, the front door of their apartment and a letter addressed to them.

However, it would have been somewhat more effective if Tommy Robinson, the leader of the English Defence League, had not gone to the address of someone with a differently-spelled name about 40 miles away from his intended target.

The editor of EDL News, a critical website and Twitter feed which bills itself as "bringing you the news that the English Defence League often won't", has labelled the incident embarrassing and bizarre for Robinson.

Robinson tweets a picture of a block of flats

The EDL News website recounted how Robinson – whose vehemently anti-Islam group leads protests that have regularly become violent – was seemingly angry at criticism of the EDL and used Twitter last month to say he knew where its editor, Gary Moon, lived. Moon responded by inviting Robinson for a cup of tea.

Then, on Wednesday evening, Robinson sent Moon a series of picture-based tweets, since deleted – in the unfolding saga style of the boxer Curtis Woodhouse who tracked down a Twitter troll in similar fashion.

One showed the outside of a redbrick block of flats with a message saying, "look familiar". The next showed a photo of a white front door, with the accompanying tweet reading, "Gary open up".

Robinson tweets 'Open up Gary' at what he thinks is Moon's door

Moon, who lives in London and has helped run the EDL News site since 2010, said he was away watching football but was alerted to the tweets and photos by a friend, and left baffled.

"I didn't understand them," Moon said. "I thought he seemed to be stalking someone but it didn't seem to have anything to do with me." Then came another tweet, showing a man's hand holding a letter addressed to a "Garry Moon" at an address in Reading. This was when the penny dropped.

Moon said: "Robinson had been helped out in the past by someone who tracked down the servers we were using at the time, which were in Reading. I thought, 'He's only gone and found a slightly different name in a phone book and headed to Reading by mistake'."

His Reading-based near namesake was seemingly out at the time, Moon said, and probably never knew the EDL leader had been knocking at his door.

Moon said the EDL had largely ignored his website until it began raising questions about the group's financing.

Robinson seemingly fails to notice the spelling of this Garry Moon is different to the one he's coming to see

Last month, the upmarket London department store Selfridges briefly suspended a member of its sales staff after Robinson complained he had been refused service in the menswear section and sworn at.

While Selfridges treated Robinson and the man accompanying him to a meal in recompense, it is understood the shop could find no evidence the EDL leader was abused.

Robinson recounted that he was ejected from a Milton Keynes casino later the same day after, he believes, being recognised. Robinson could not be reached for comment about the EDL News tweets.