Tommy Robinson news: Court of Appeal to pass decision on EDL co-founder's sentence by end of July

No decision: Judges are set to make a decision on Tommy Robinson's sentence by the end of July
Matthew Lloyd/Getty Images
Fiona Simpson19 July 2018
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Senior judges will make decision on an appeal over Tommy Robinson's 13-month jail term for contempt of court by the end of July.

Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett announced at the end of a hearing in London on Wednesday that the Court of Appeal would do its "level best" to give a decision before the end of the month.

Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon, watched the proceedings via video link from prison.

He was jailed in May after he filmed people involved in a criminal trial and put the footage online.

The clip was watched about 250,000 times within hours of being posted on social media.

He was given 10 months for contempt of court, which he admitted, and a further three months for breaching a previous suspended sentence.

Thousands of protesters descended on the capital at the weekend in support of the controversial activist.

Tommy Robinson protest in Whitehall 14/7/18

1/13

Robinson was detained 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."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT