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Tommy Robinson, founder of the far-right group English Defence League, has launched an appeal against an 18-month prison sentence for contempt of court.
Lawyers for Robinson told judges at the Court of Appeal in London on Friday that he was challenging his sentence, which he received for repeating false allegations against a Syrian refugee, on health grounds.
The far-right activist, who appeared in court via video link from HMP Woodhill, was suffering from conditions including complex post-traumatic stress disorder and his imprisonment was “making him ill”, Alisdair Williamson KC said.
But Aidan Eardley KC, representing the solicitor-general, said that Robinson “remains defiantly in breach” of a court order and his grounds of appeal were “factually and legally flawed”.
Three of England’s most senior judges, including the lady chief justice Baroness Sue Carr, heard the challenge Robinson has brought against the sentence that he received last October.
The 42-year-old, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, released videos in 2018 in which he claimed that the refugee, Jamal Hijazi, was part of a gang and had taken part in a violent assault. The videos were viewed almost a million times and Hijazi became a target of abuse.
Hijazi successfully sued Robinson for libel, and the High Court issued an injunction in 2021 preventing him from repeating the allegations.
But Robinson went on to publish a video entitled “Silenced” that contained statements prohibited by the order.
The solicitor-general made two applications against him for contempt of court and Robinson admitted breaching the injunction on 10 occasions.
Sentencing Robinson last year, Mr Justice Johnson described the breaches as a “considered, planned, deliberate, direct and flagrant breach of the court’s order in disregard of the claimant’s rights”. “Nobody is above the law,” the judge said.
At the Court of Appeal on Friday, Williamson, for Robinson, highlighted that Robinson had been segregated while in prison and said there were “serious consequences to the way in which he is being held”.
“The mere fact of being in segregation is difficult for someone in Mr Yaxley-Lennon’s position because he is denied the means by which he can normally regulate his emotions.”
The barrister added that Robinson’s imprisonment was making him “more ill than Mr Justice Johnson could have foreseen”.
Robinson was segregated because of concerns about his safety after prison authorities received intelligence suggesting other prisoners were plotting to assault him.
He challenged his segregation on human rights grounds but Mr Justice Chamberlain ruled against him last month.
Eardley said the judge had properly considered prison conditions and Robinson’s mental state at the time of the sentencing.
