Tommy Robinson has lost a Court of Appeal challenge against the length of his prison sentence for contempt of court.
The far-right political activist, 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.
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was told his sentence would be shortened by four months if he “purged” the contempt by removing the claims from his social media accounts.
He unpinned a film called Silenced, containing the libellous allegations, from the top of his profile on X shortly before a Court of Appeal hearing challenging the sentence last week, but it was pinned again after he lost the case.
His lawyer Alisdair Williamson KC told judges Robinson has suffered an “evident decline in his mental health” after being held in segregation at Woodhill prison in Milton Keynes.
“He is being kept safe by the authorities in segregation, but being kept safe is making him ill,” he said.
The court heard Robinson is suffering from complex PTSD and has been diagnosed with ADHD, and his barrister said his prison conditions mean he can’t “regulate his emotions”.
His phone contact has been restricted “because of the way he conducted himself on the telephone” on two occasions, the court heard.
Aidan Eardley KC, for the Solicitor General, said it was “in his gift” for Robinson to shorten his own sentence by removing the film from social media and preventing its dissemination.
f he did, his release date would be brought forward from 26 July to the end of May, the court heard.
But Mr Eardley said Robinson “remains defiantly in breach” of the order with further publication of his film occurring “every time it is viewed” and is asking for an “indulgence”.
Judges Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr, Lord Justice Edis and Lord Justice Warby dismissed Robinson’s appeal in a written 15-page ruling on Wednesday.
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