Tommy Robinson has been released from Britain’s maximum security jail after a nine-week sentence that arose from him filming the faces of rape gang suspects outside of court.

The former English Defence League leader turned citizen journalist and anti-child rape activist was pictured leaving HMP Belmarsh prison Friday morning, sporting a beard and long hair from his time behind bars. Laughing with Ezra Levant, a Canadian journalist who has allied himself closely to Mr Robinson, the street organiser joked his first stop after prison would be for a haircut because his newly grown ginger-streaked beard made him look like a “little cowardly convert” to Islam.

Sparring with journalists from the British Daily Mirror newspaper which had turned up to photograph him on release, Mr Robinson said: “you read their lies, the Daily Mirror lied saying I was attacked in this prison, you made up an entire story.

“You’re a part of the propaganda being pushed out. My only message to them is you’re a disgrace and an embarrassment, if this happened in Hong Kong, Russia, China, you’d be up in arms but because I talk about Islam you’re silent. You are all complicit in the attack on free speech that we are witnessing. You’re all complicit in what’s happening to our country, all the media are.”

Mr Robinson also had words for the government, saying: “This should be an embarrassment for the British government, for the judiciary… [the judge said] it was unintentional, had zero effect on a trial would result in a journalist being put in prison, spending two and a half months in HMP Onley [and nine weeks at HMP Belmarsh].”

Breitbart London reported from HMP Belmarsh this week, revealing that the cell Mr Robinson was housed in had previously housed notorious Islamist terrorist killer Michael Adebelajo, one of the pair who murdered British soldier Lee Rigby by running him over with a car and then attempting to decapitate him with a knife. A particular feature of this prison stretch for Mr Robinson has been the post and emails he recieved from well-wishers, the volume of letters being such that reading them consumed four hours a day.

Exclusive — Delingpole: A Visit to Tommy Robinson in Belmarsh Maximum Security Prison https://t.co/psiBNsk2p5 — Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) September 12, 2019

Robinson’s imprisonment dates back to a 2018 child rape gang case, which saw Robinson arrested, processed through the courts, and thrown in jail over a matter of just hours for filming and broadcasting images of the defendants on Facebook as they arrived at the building. The judge also imposed reporting restrictions, meaning details of Robinson’s incarceration were kept from the public.

The case was later appealed, with Robinson’s lawyers arguing that the prison sentence for a crime which is normally punished with fines was excessive, and citing procedural deficiencies in the abnormally hastily concluded trial. An appeal court sent Robinson back to jail, the judge remarking the purpose of the incarceration was “the main purpose of the penalty is punishment and deterrence”.

The child rape gang Mr Robinson filmed were subsequently jailed for their “campaign of rape and other sexual abuse” against vulnerable young people.