Barristers for the Solicitor General, who opposes the appeal, said there are “no grounds” for reducing the sentence.
Far-right thug Tommy Robinson has lost a Court of Appeal challenge against the length of his prison sentence for contempt of court.
Robinson, 42, was jailed for 18 months in October last year after admitting breaching a 2021 High Court order banning him from repeating false allegations against a Syrian refugee who successfully sued him for libel.
In recent months, Elon Musk has also backed Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, with the billionaire owner of X posting and reposting calls for Robinson to be released from prison.
Robinson was sentenced to prison after making false accusations against Jamal Hijazi, a young Syrian refugee, in a video on social media where he claimed Hijazi was “a violent school bully”.
The first video was posted in 2018, but Robinson continued to repeat these claims, screening a libellous film about the case at an event in Copenhagen in 2023. Hijazi vehemently denied the allegation and took legal action against Robinson. He was sent to prison after breaching an injunction by repeating the false claims again.
Lawyers for Robinson told the Court of Appeal that prison is “making Robinson ill” and that his mental health, combined with his segregation in custody, is having a “demonstrable effect” on him, meaning his sentence should be reduced.
Barristers for the Solicitor General, who opposes the appeal, said there are “no grounds” for reducing the sentence.
Judges Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr, Lord Justice Edis and Lord Justice Warby dismissed Robinson’s appeal in a written 15-page ruling.
They said they did not find Robinson’s prison conditions were “harsher or more onerous” than sentencing judge Mr Justice Johnson had foreseen at the time.
“The appellant had in fact been able to associate with others by email, by telephone, and in person, to a considerable extent,” it said.
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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