Tommy Robinson facing new contempt of court claim over Huddersfield Syrian schoolboy saga

Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is facing a new contempt of court case for allegedly violating an injunction in a libel case he lost.

The Attorney General's Office (AGO) has initiated potential contempt proceedings after accusations that Robinson breached a court order. In 2021, Syrian refugee Jamal Hijazi won a lawsuit against Robinson following an incident at Almondbury Community School in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, in October 2018. After the incident went viral, Robinson made false claims about Mr Hijazi, which led to the libel case.

Following the successful libel claim by Mr Hijazi, Mr Justice Nicklin ordered Robinson to pay damages and legal costs and issued an injunction preventing him from repeating the allegations. However, campaign group Hope Not Hate alleges that Robinson ignored the injunction and repeated the allegations, providing a "dossier of evidence" to the AGO.

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A hearing on the potential contempt proceedings is scheduled for July 29 at the High Court. Nick Lowles, CEO of Hope Not Hate, said: "Back in June 2023, Hope Not Hate submitted a dossier of evidence and an open letter with 15000 signatures to the Attorney General, showing how Tommy quite consciously broke a court order relating to the Jamal Hijazi case."

He added: "Tommy Robinson believes he is above the law but the law is catching up with him."

In August 2022, Robinson was slapped with a £900 fine for failing to appear at a High Court hearing regarding his finances linked to pre-trial costs in the case of around £43,000.

Robinson had previously been incarcerated after being found guilty of contempt of court when he filmed men accused of sexually exploiting young girls and live-streamed the footage on Facebook, violating a reporting ban, outside Leeds Crown Court in May 2018.

He was handed a 13-month prison sentence after being found in contempt of court on the day of the broadcast, but only served two months before being released after that finding of contempt was overturned by the Court of Appeal in August 2018.

The case was subsequently referred back to the Attorney General and he was imprisoned again in July 2019.