Why Tommy Robinson is going to prison - and why the UK media were silent

Far-right activist Tommy Robinson has been sentenced to 13 months in Hull Prison over two contempt of court offences, in a case which has become a cause celebre for the extreme right in the UK and beyond.

The former English Defence League leader, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was sentenced on Friday, but another active trial prevented media reporting of the case until today.

Hundreds descended on Whitehall on Saturday, demanding Robinson’s release and protesting against what they see as an assault on freedom of speech by an establishment determined to hush up a child grooming epidemic.

However, in reality, “his arrest and conviction were to protect our justice system - and ensure a trial that cost hundreds of thousands of pounds didn't collapse,” says Leeds Live.

What did Robinson do?

The Contempt of Court Act 1981 lays down strict limitations on what can be reported in the press regarding active criminal proceedings. This is to prevent outside influences from affecting jurors, ensuring that the defendant has a fair trial based only on the evidence put before the court.

Robinson was already serving a suspended sentence for contempt of court concerning a 2017 case in Canterbury when he was arrested by police while live-streaming on Facebook outside a grooming trial in Leeds on Friday morning.

In the broadcast, played to the court, Robinson “got into a shouting match with several men who appeared to be defendants in the case”, Buzzfeed reports. He also read out the names and charges against the men, some of them inaccurate.

“No-one could possibly conclude that it would be anything other than highly prejudicial to the defendants in the trial,” said Judge Geoffrey Marson QC, presiding.

The self-described journalist pleaded guilty to contempt of court and breach of a suspended sentence on Friday afternoon, receiving a sentence of 13 months in prison.

“In a rare move, he was arrested, charged and sentenced within five hours,” says the Daily Mirror.

Why has there been no coverage of Robinson’s conviction until now?

In far-right circles, the lack of media coverage over the weekend was widely touted as further evidence of a conspiracy to silence Robinson.

However, the real explanation lies in the same legislation which landed Robinson in court - contempt of court.

A temporary order had been imposed by the court banning media coverage of Robinson’s trial and conviction while the Leeds grooming trial was ongoing over fears it could further publicise Robinson’s prejudicial broadcast.

“If the jurors in my present trial get to know of this video I will no doubt be faced with an application to discharge the jury,” Marson told Robinson on Friday, the Hull Daily Mail reports.

“If I have to do that it will mean a re-trial, costing hundreds and hundreds and thousands of pounds.”

However, such orders can be challenged by reporters - as journalists from Leeds Live successfully did on Tuesday.

With the temporary order lifted, the UK press is now free to report on Robinson’s case.

However, legal blogger The Secret Barrister says the reporting restrictions have inadvertently enabled a false narrative to flourish online.

The enforced absence of “accurate reporting by responsible journalists” meant “there was no factual counterpoint to the selective and inaccurate details of Yaxley-Lennon’s situation that were inevitably flooded through social media” by his supporters.