Tommy Robinson salutes supporters as he is locked up for 18 months

Tommy Robinson has been locked up after repeating false allegations about a Syrian refugee. The EDL founder - whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon - was handed an 18-month prison sentence for 'deliberately' breaching a High Court order.

The 41-year-old stood with his hands on the edge of the dock, looking up at dozens of supporters who packed out the public gallery for his hearing today (Monday, October 28). He saluted the public gallery and pumped his chest after being told that 'nobody is above the law'.

Robinson shrugged his shoulders as he was jailed at Woolwich Crown Court. Some of his supporters blew kisses towards him as he was led from the dock.

READ MORE: Keir Starmer confirms £2 bus fare cap will be axed in Budget

Don't miss the biggest and breaking stories by signing up to the BirminghamLive newsletter here.

Robinson admitted 10 breaches of a High Court order made in 2021. He was barred from repeating false allegations against Jamal Hijazi after the then-schoolboy successfully sued him for libel.

Lawyers for the Solicitor General claimed he had been 'thumbing his nose at the court' and 'undermining' the rule of law by breaching the injunction. The Solicitor General issued the first contempt claim against Robinson in June, claiming he 'knowingly' breached the order on four occasions.

He published a film in May last year called 'Silenced' - which contains the libellous allegations. The film remains pinned to the top of his profile on social media site X, formerley known as Twitter.

A judge told Robinson he could serve just 14 months if he 'purge' his contempt by removing the film from his X account. When told he could reduce his sentence, Robinson shook his head and appeared to say "nah".

Robinson also repeated the claims in three interviews between February and June 2023. The second claim was issued in August concerning six further breaches, including playing the film to a demonstration in Trafalgar Square in central London earlier this year.

Lawyers for the Solicitor General told an earlier hearing that showing the film at the demonstration was a 'flagrant' breach of the court order. Barristers for Robinson - who donned a grey suit and white shirt - said it was his 'principles that have brought him before the court'.

Sentencing, Mr Justice Johnson said the breaches of the injunction were not 'accidental, negligent or merely reckless' and that the 'custodial threshold is amply crossed'. He said: "It was a planned, deliberate, direct, flagrant breach of the court's orders."

He added: "Nobody is above the law. Nobody can pick and choose which injunctions they obey and those they do not. It is in the interests of the whole community that injunctions are obeyed."

The judge said Robinson had been found to have committed contempt of court on three previous occasions, adding: "All of his actions so far suggest he regards himself as above the law."

He said: "As to harm, the primary harm caused is the corrosive effect it has on the administration of justice and the ability of courts to deliver justice." The judge added: "The defendant has not shown any remorse for his breaches of the order.

"It would have been surprising had he done so." Aidan Eardley KC, claimed Robinson breached all the paragraphs of the injunction 'at one point or another' through the film.

Robinson 'intended that it should be shared as widely as possible via other channels' and said it was the defendant's 'declared intention to disobey the order'. Mr Eardley said: "The harm here is that millions of people could see Mr Yaxley-Lennon thumbing his nose at the court."

He added: "This is not a case about Mr Yaxley-Lennon's political views. It is not even directly a case about freedom of expression. It is a case about the disobedience to a court order, and the undermining of the rule of law that goes with that."

Sasha Wass KC, defending, said: "This defendant had been neither sly nor dishonest nor seeking gain for himself." She continued: "He acted the way that he did, and he accepts his culpability, because he passionately believes in free speech, a free press and the overwhelming desire that he has to expose the truth."

She added: "Having said all of that, he accepts the breaches as set out, but wants me to make it clear on his behalf that at all times he was following his principles and he accepts he will be sentenced for them." The case comes after Robinson was successfully sued by Mr Hijazi who was assaulted at Almondbury Community School in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, in October 2018.

After a clip of the incident went viral, Robinson made false claims on Facebook.