UK: Far-right figure jailed for contempt of court

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON (AA) - A British court Thursday sentenced former leader of the racist group English Defence League (EDL) Tommy Robinson to 9 months in prison for contempt of court.

Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was jailed for 13 months last year over charges of contempt of court when he filmed defendants in a criminal court and published the footage online. But after serving part of this sentence, he was released from prison based on a rule of the Court of Appeal.

The case was later referred back to Attorney General Geoffrey Cox who said it was in the public interest to bring fresh proceedings against him.

The 36-year-old Islamophobic far-right Robinson will now serve nine months on the same offense.

A group of supporters of Robinson rallied outside the Old Bailey building, shouted slogans and threw bottles to police.

Robinson is among the founders of PEGIDA UK, an organization against Islam, and was an advisor of Gerard Batten, the former leader of now-fascist and Islamophobic UK Independence Party (UKIP).

"Today’s sentencing of Yaxley-Lennon serves to illustrate how seriously the courts will take matters of contempt,” Cox said.

"Posting material online that breaches reporting restrictions or risks prejudicing legal proceedings has consequences, and I would urge everyone to think carefully about whether their social media posts could amount to contempt of court," he added.