In a video posted to his YouTube channel after being freed, Robinson claimed his time at HMP Olney in Northamptonshire amounted to torture. Photo / Getty Images
In a video posted to his YouTube channel after being freed, Robinson claimed his time at HMP Olney in Northamptonshire amounted to torture. Photo / Getty Images
Right-wing activist Tommy Robinson has claimed he was held in solitary confinement and subject to "mental torture" while imprisoned for contempt of court.
Robinson, who works as a presenter for Canadian website Rebel Media, was freed from prison yesterday after winning an appeal over his 13-month contempt sentence for filming a Facebook Live video outside a trial.
In a video posted to his YouTube channel after being freed, Robinson claimed his time at HMP Olney in Northamptonshire amounted to torture, according to the Daily Mail.
"Home sweet home. I've got so much to say... but I feel anxious," he explained. The clip was titled "Tommy Robinson is home".
The 35-year-old - who became a public figure after co-founding the anti-Islamist group English Defence League - added: "What they tried to do was to mentally destroy me.
He had been behind bars for two months after confronting defendants outside Leeds Crown Court on May 25.
He was hugged by friends waiting for him at Onley Prison near Rugby this afternoon and said: "I want to thank the British public for all their support" before being swept away by car.
Earlier judges freed him after ruling it was "unfair" to give him 13 months in prison during a "muddled" and "rushed" court case held just five hours after his arrest.
He had confronted suspects being prosecuted in trials involving dozens of Asian men accused of grooming children as young as 11, it can be reported for the first time today.
Robinson broadcast these exchanges to 250,000 people watching him on Facebook Live and even captured the moment police arrested him.
In a video posted to his YouTube channel after being freed, Robinson claimed his time at HMP Olney in Northamptonshire amounted to torture. Photo / Getty Images
The Facebook post said: "Tommy just called his family from prison to ask what the outcome was - he said prisoners were shouting that he was going home but he did not want to believe them. He is over the moon. They had a family holiday booked and paid for this Friday which he can now go on and spend some much-needed time with his wife and children".
Today appeal judges ordered Robinson be released on bail and he will face a fresh contempt of court hearing at the Old Bailey in London "as soon as possible".
His case has sparked protests across the UK and a groundswell of support among the right in America, who claimed his incarceration violated freedom of speech.
President Trump's former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon led the calls for his release and called him a "solid guy" and the "backbone of this country" while in the UK last month.
Two weeks ago Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon, appealed against his 13-month jail term for contempt of court claiming the punishment was "excessive" and the hearing was "rushed".
The Court of Appeal quashed his conviction saying the decision to jail him within five hours of his arrest "gave rise to unfairness" and ignored court rules.
A panel of three senior judges also criticised Judge Geoffrey Marson QC, the judge who sent him to prison, saying he gave "no clarity" about what parts of Robinson's Facebook Live video were in contempt of court.
He ignored the fact the film was deleted shortly after his arrest and also denied Robinson the chance to defend himself properly by not adjourning the case to another day, the ruling said.
Robinson's successful appeal caused supporters to cry with joy and cheer wildly before chanting 'Tommy's coming home' to the tune of England football anthem Three Lions.
Anti-racism supporters had also gathered on the Royal Courts of Justice and were shouting chants such as 'Nazi scum, off our streets' and 'refugees are welcome here' as the judgment came in.
In an extraordinary Court of Appeal ruling judges decided:
• A judge was too quick to jail Robinson five hours after he was arrested outside Leeds Crown Court • Former EDL-leader was denied the chance to defend himself properly by judge who should have adjourned the case • Robinson will be released from Onley jail on bail and face a new contempt hearing at the Old Bailey
Announcing the decision to back Robinson's case on Wednesday, Lord Burnett said the court was allowing his appeal "in respect of the committal for contempt at Leeds Crown Court".
He added: "The appellant is granted bail and the matter of contempt at Leeds Crown Court is remitted to be heard again."
An appeal about being found in contempt at a previous case in Canterbury was dismissed.
The appeal judges said they were satisfied that the decision at Leeds to proceed to committal to prison "so promptly", and without "due regard" to rules governing the procedure to be followed when a Crown Court deals with the conduct of a person alleged to have acted in contempt of court, "gave rise to unfairness".
Lord Burnett said in a written ruling: "We allow the appeal and remit the matter to be heard by a different judge. There is no requirement that it be heard in Leeds...
"We invite the Attorney General to nominate an advocate to appear at the fresh hearing.
"It is important that the case is presented by someone other than a judge, having taken proper steps to set out the offending conduct, by reference to the video in question."
He said: "The appellant will be granted bail pending the rehearing. That bail will be conditional.
"We order that he is not to approach within 400 metres of Leeds Crown Court. The rehearing will be conducted by the Recorder of London at the Central Criminal Court as soon as reasonably possible."
Demonstrators against far-right activist Tommy Robinson protest outside the Royal Courts of Justice, in London. Photo / AP
Robinson's QC had argued at a hearing in July that the findings of contempt should be quashed as procedural errors had led to prejudice.
Lord Burnett, giving reasons for the Court of Appeal's decision relating to the Leeds Crown Court allegation, said that once Robinson "had removed the video from Facebook there was no longer sufficient urgency to justify immediate proceedings".
The court agreed that the judge at Leeds should not have commenced contempt proceedings that day.
Lord Burnett said that "no particulars of the contempt were formulated or put to the appellant", and there was "a muddle over the nature of the contempt being considered".
He added: "Where a custodial term of considerable length is being imposed, it should not usually occur so quickly after the conduct which is complained of; a sentence of committal to immediate custody had been pronounced within five hours of the conduct taking place.'"
The decision send him to prison has sparked several protests all over the country and the campaign to get him freed has garnered support abroad, especially in the United States.
About 25 Robinson supporters had gathered outside the Royal Courts of Justice by the time the ruling was made.
They cheered when news of the decision filtered through.
A statement from Carson Kaye solicitors, which represented Robinson, said: "The rule of law and the right to a fair hearing are fundamental to every individual and this ruling is an example of the procedural safeguards of our system, and its potential for protecting every citizen equally.
"What makes the British system so unique is the ability to set aside personal feelings and deal with the law and each case on its merits."
About 40 supporters of Tommy Robinson gathered behind a metal railing at the opposite side of the building's entrance to anti-fascist protesters, with police officers between the two groups.
As a group of Stand Up To Racism demonstrators left the area, Robinson's supporters shouted "cheerio".
Chief executive Nick Lowles said later Robinson remained "a fraud" who had "shown utter contempt for justice and the rule of law".
In response to today's decision, chief executive Nick Lowles said: "Far from being a martyr for 'free speech', his are the actions of a dangerous, narcissistic extremist attempting to unite the far right around his virulent Islamophobic agenda".
Robinson's footage, lasting around an hour, was watched 250,000 times within hours of being posted on Facebook.
The far-right activist was given 10 months for contempt of court, which he admitted, and a further three months for breaching a previous suspended sentence.
Robinson, 35, sent a legal team to the Court of Appeal in London to argue his sentence should be cut.
But leading judges reserved their decision until today before giving him a partial victory that secured his release.
During the last hearing, his QC Jeremy Dein urged Lord Burnett and two other judges to overturn contempt of court findings, submitting that procedural "deficiencies" had given rise to "prejudice".
Mr Dein, when asking the judges to reduce the jail sentence, argued that it was "manifestly excessive", and said that "insufficient weight" had been given to personal mitigation.
A supporter of Tommy Robinson in the foreground poses for a photo as Stand Up to Racism demonstrators protest outside the Royal Courts of Justice, in London. Photo / AP
The QC said the proceedings in Leeds had been "unnecessarily and unjustifiably rushed".
He told the judges: "We maintain it is of particular importance that right from the outset the appellant, albeit in a very stressful and difficult situation, offered to have the live stream taken down and contact people who could do so."
There had been no intention to disrupt the trial or to breach any order, Mr Dein said.
Robinson was arrested outside Leeds Crown Court in May after using social media to broadcast details of a trial which is subject to blanket reporting restrictions.
Jailing him, Judge Geoffrey Marson told Robinson his actions could cause the trial to be re-run, costing "hundreds and hundreds of thousands of pounds".
The judge said it was a "serious aggravating feature" that he was encouraging others to share it and it had been shared widely.
He added: "Everyone understands the right to freedom of speech but there are responsibilities and obligations.
"I am not sure you appreciate the potential consequence of what you have done.
"People have to understand that if they breach court orders there will be very real consequences."
It was the second time Robinson had breached court orders, having narrowly avoided jail in May 2017 over footage he filmed during the trial of four men who were later convicted of gang-raping a teenage girl.
The judge on that occasion gave him a three-month suspended sentence and told him his punishment was not about "freedom of speech or freedom of the press" but about "justice and ensuring that a trial can be carried out justly and fairly".
During Robinson's sentencing hearing, his barrister Matthew Harding said the activist had "deep regret" for what he had done and 'did not try to cause difficulties for the court process'.
