Tommy Robinson wins appeal - as it happened: Far-right leader walks free from prison on bail but could be jailed again
Court of Appeal quashes contempt of court finding from Leeds but orders Robinson to attend new hearing
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Tommy Robinson has been released from prison after a court's finding that he committed contempt in Leeds was quashed.
But the Court of Appeal ordered the far-right leader to attend a new hearing on the case that could see him jailed for a second time.
Robinson's lawyers had argued he should be freed because of “procedural deficiencies” in two court cases.
The Lord Chief Justice and two other judges dismissed their appeal against the first finding in Canterbury, which saw Robinson handed a suspended three-month prison sentence last year.
But they ruled that a judge who jailed Robinson for 13 months at Leeds Crown Court in May "gave rise to unfairness" by proceeding too quickly and failing to properly follow rules.
Supporters of Robinson inside the Court of Appeal as the Rt Hon Sir Ian Burnett, Mr Justice Turner and Mrs Justice McGowan DBE handed down their judgment.
They were silenced by the Lord Chief Justice as Free Tommy protesters and anti-fascist demonstrators were kept apart by police outside.
Robinson later walked free from HMP Onley, flanked by men carrying his luggage before being driven away.
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was released from HMP Onley later on Wednesday.
High-profile backers including the Ukip leader Gerard Batten, Dutch opposition leader Geert Wilders and the former Breitbart London editor Raheem Kassam hailed the verdict as a victory for “freedom of speech”.
Judges dismissed calls to quash findings that he committed contempt at Canterbury Crown Court in May 2017, saying criticism by Robinson’s legal team “had no substance”.
But Lord Burnett, Mr Justice Turner and Mrs Justice McGowan found that procedural failings by a judge who later jailed Robinson for 13 months at Leeds Crown Court “gave rise to unfairness”.
Robinson was arrested on 25 May after broadcasting a Facebook Live video that broke a blanket reporting restriction on an ongoing set of trials, and jailed hours later.
Judges found that while Geoffrey Marson QC was right to bring Robinson before him to have the video deleted and protect jury deliberations, the case was dealt with too fast and did not follow criminal procedure rules.
“There was no clarity about what parts of the video were relied upon as amounting to contempt, what parts the appellant accepted through his counsel amounted to contempt and for what conduct he was sentenced,” the judgment said.
“Whilst the judge was entitled to deal with the contempt himself, the urgency went out of the matter when the appellant agreed to take down the video from Facebook. There should have been an adjournment to enable the particulars of contempt to be properly formulated and for a hearing at a more measured pace, as had happened in Canterbury.”
The Tommy Robinson protest: in pictures
Show all 27They ordered the matter to be heard again at the Old Bailey “as soon as reasonably possible”, and bailed Robinson on the condition he attends the new hearing and does not go within 400m of Leeds Crown Court.
Robinson’s barrister, Jeremy Dein QC, had argued that a “conglomeration of procedural deficiencies” had given rise to prejudice against his client and caused him to be handed a “manifestly excessive” prison sentence.
He argued that proceedings at Leeds Crown Court were “unnecessarily and unjustly rushed”, causing Robinson’s representative to miss potential mitigating factors that could have lowered his sentence.
“He did not intend to breach any [reporting restriction] order, albeit that he was aware that there was an order,” Mr Dein told the court, claiming that Robinson was “operating as a journalist” and attempted to be legally vigilant.
Court records show that through his lawyer, Robinson expressed deep regret for the “breach of integrity of the court system”, but was not asked to respond to the particulars of the allegations himself.
The failings also meant Robinson was recorded as a criminal, rather than civil, prisoner and deprived of visits, free communications and other freedoms he should have been allowed.
The appeal was launched outside the 28-day time limit for challenging convictions, but was allowed after judges heard that legal meetings were delayed by Robinson being held in “effective solitary confinement” for his own safety.
Prominent far-right figures are congratulating Tommy Robinson on the ruling.
Dutch anti-immigrant politician Geert Wilders, said: "Fantastic news! Tommy won and will be released today. A free man again!"
The leader of the Netherlands' Freedom Party has previously called Robinson a staunch freedom fighter and compared him to Winston Churchill.
Former leader of the now-defunct British National Party Nick Griffin said: “Despite my opposition to his liberalism, support for (non-Muslim) immigration & support for AlQaeda-backing Israel, it's good to hear that #TommyRobinson has been set free to go home to his family. That sentence was monstrous!"
Commentator Katie Hopkins said in a tweet she was "looking forward to an apology" from the judge who jailed Robinson.
Canadian activist Lauren Southern posted a video on Twitter of herself alongside the English Defence League founder with the hashtag #freetommy. Ms Southern, has previously been barred from the UK for distributing racist material and has called Robinson a "hero".
Gregg Roman, director of right-wing US thinktank Middle East Forum, which bankrolled Robinson's campaign, said in a statement: “The Middle East Forum's efforts to rally international support for Tommy Robinson's release were vindicated today.
”Today is a victory over prosecutorial and judicial prejudice; especially for those who support a robust, free public debate centred on Islamism, its agent provocateurs in the UK, its maladies, and societal discontents.“
The thinktank spent a five-figure sum on Robinson's legal defence and has also paid speakers to talk at "Free Tommy" rallies.
Anti-fascist campaign group Hope Not Hate said 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.
"Lennon is also backed by leading anti-Muslim figures in the US and elsewhere, floating fake news about 'no-go' zones in Europe, who've weighed in to pay his legal bills, flown in politicians to speak on his behalf, promoted and amplified his messages on social media, and even made representations to the British ambassador in America.
"Former Trump right-hand man and ex-Breitbart boss Steve Bannon is a key figure here. The far-right strategist called Lennon the 'backbone' of Britain and is no doubt hoping to make him a core part of his new 'movement', using him as a frontman to increase divisions and stoke anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim anger across Europe."
Some key points from the judgment - which is complex and worth a read.
Judges were also very critical of Robinson and his team for launching their failed appeal against the contempt case in Canterbury in May 2017.
It lies ill in the mouth of an appellant to complain of the failure of the court below to follow the appropriate procedural steps when that failure was fully appreciated at the time and remained deliberately uncorrected for tactical reasons and collateral advantage."
Here is the excerpt about why the contempt finding in Leeds was quashed:
(i) It was inappropriate to proceed immediately on the motion of the court to deal with the alleged contempt after immediate steps had been taken to remove the offending video from the internet. An adjournment was necessary to enable the matter to proceed on a fully informed basis; in any event
(ii) The failure to comply with Part 48 of the Rules resulted in there being no clear statement, orally or in writing, of the conduct said to comprise a contempt for contravening the section 4(2) order in place;
(iii) It was unclear what conduct was said to comprise a breach of that order and the appellant was sentenced on the basis of conduct which fell outside the scope of that order; (iv) The haste with which the contempt proceedings were conducted led to an inability of counsel to mitigate fully on the appellant's behalf.
The judges also gave details of Robinson's bail conditions:
"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 (the Old Bailey) as soon as reasonably possible."
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