Court of Appeal overturns Tommy Robinson charges

The former leader of the EDL is set to be released on bail

Tommy Robinson has won an appeal against his contempt of court conviction and is set to be released from prison on bail.

The former leader of the EDL had been jailed for 13 months after going Live on Facebook from outside the trial of a rape gang at Leeds Crown Court.

Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, had pleaded guilty to a contempt of court charge but will now have another hearing after the charges were quashed today in the Court of Appeal.

Robinson’s Facebook broadcast was judged to have potentially jeopardised the proceedings at Leeds Crown Court, by identifying jurors or the defendants’ presumption of innocence, and was viewed more than 250,000 times.

The Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett and two other judges quashed the finding and sentence, made in May, and ordered a new hearing of the allegation.

The judge said: “The appellant is granted bail and the matter of contempt at Leeds Crown Court is remitted to be heard again.”

Their ruling agreed with the argument of Robinson’s barrister that contempt of court proceedings should not have begun on the same day of his arrest, writing in summary: “Once the appellant had removed the video from Facebook, there was no longer sufficient urgency to justify immediate proceedings.”

Operating under #FreeTommy, there have been concerted protests against Robinson’s sentence.

Protesters descended on London to repeatedly demonstrate against Robinson’s incarceration, joining with a pro-Trump protest when the president visited the UK.

Gerard Batten, the leader of UKIP, has compared Robinson to Nelson Mandela, and said on the BBC’s Newsnight: “In the great scheme of things, when these events are played out, he will be seen as on the right side of a struggle between good and evil.”