Tommy Robinson is returning to prison after he pleaded guilty to contempt of court after repeating libellous claims he made about a Syrian refugee.
The far-right activist repeated his remarks that schoolboy Jamal Hijazi “violently attacks young English girls in his school”, comments that led to him being ordered to pay £100,000 in damages in 2021.
The judge said “nobody is above the law” and condemned Robinson for his “flagrant” breaches of the court order.
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, will now be jailed for 18 months.
He is now at a maximum security prison in Belmarsh, south-east London.
According to reports, Robinson will be kept away from other inmates “for his own safety.”
Some of the most dangerous and violent criminals, including terrorists, are serving their time at Belmarsh.
Robinson previously spent time in Belmarsh when he was convicted of contempt of court after breaking reporting restrictions outside a court case that saw men later convicted of sexual abuse.
Ross Kemp interviewed Robinson while he was in Belmarsh in 2019, and asked Robinson why he urged supporters to demonstrate outside the prison.
Robinson replied: “Essentially, I wanted to make sure that I have my rights. I know what ten weeks of solitary confinement does – it’s not good for you.”
Reflecting on his time in Belmarsh, Robinson added: “This has been as best as could possibly be being locked on my own for months.
“I haven’t been in Belmarsh, I haven’t looked around, I haven’t seen another prisoner. I’ve seen Julian Assange through the window.”
Robinson then got emotional and said: “I’d say that my thing is because I know I’m going home to my kids and you just want to be normal.”
This week’s conviction means Robinson has now been jailed for contempt of court four times.
Robinson was also kept isolated during his last stint in prison, something which would be a “headache” for prisoner officers, according to former prison governor Ian Acheson.
He said: “You have someone who would not be considered an escape risk, hasn’t been convicted for a crime of violence and has been found guilty of breaking a civil restriction, so normally he could be put in open conditions,’ he said.
“But open prisons are very unsupervised and that could leave Robinson at risk of being attacked.
“There is also a risk of his presence disrupting the good order of the prison due to the presence of people who might sympathise with him – particularly as the far-right push the narrative of the rioters being ‘political prisoners.'”
