After fleeing the UK just one day before he was due in the High Court for a libel hearing, Tommy Robinson has bemoaned the fact that he can’t get ‘a single lawyer’ to take-up his case. The far-right agitator has also pleaded with his followers to help find him some representation.
Tommy Robinson ‘unable to find libel lawyer’
He currently stands accused of ‘flagrantly disregarding’ a court injunction which was taken out in 2021, after he was found guilty of libel. Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, made a series of false claims about a 21-year-old Syrian refugee.
The libellous statements were made in the film Silenced, created by the former EDL leader several years ago. The production has been banned from airing in the UK, due to the defamatory nature of the content. Despite this, he aired it to a public audience two weeks ago.
This particular breach of the law could land Tommy Robinson with an extended prison sentence. However, Yaxley-Lennon is no longer in the UK – and his future in this country now looks wholly uncertain. Indeed, he now finds himself on very shaky legal ground.
What is Tommy Robinson up against in court?
After being arrested on counter-terrorism charges, the self-proclaimed activist then fled to Europe via the Eurostar at the end of July. A separate warrant for his arrest was then issued before he absconded abroad – but this won’t be enacted until October 2024.
The 41-year-old also stands accused of instigating the riots which erupted across the UK earlier this month – something for which he could face further litigation. Add that to him missing his date in the dock, and things aren’t looking too rosy.
Legal nightmare for Mr. Yaxley-Lennon
It’s understood that the Luton-born campaigner is also weighing-up a libel case of his own, to hit-back at claims that he played a key part in encouraging UK citizens to take to the streets and riot in the wake of the Southport attacks.
Last week, Jaminara Rahman, who specialises in tax disputes, told Robinson that she no longer wanted his money as he was “destroying” the country. His woes seem to have been compounded further, with no-one now willing to put their name to his defence.