Tommy Robinson Charged Under the Terrorism Act After Handing Himself in to Police

Tommy Robinson turned himself into a police station in Kent this afternoon, seemingly in connection with an offence under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act. That offence was committed when he refused to provide the access code to his mobile phone when he was detained at Folkestone while trying to enter the channel tunnel on his way to France on July 28th. He was arrested in connection with that offence – possibly re-arrested, details are fuzzy – and then bailed, pending a hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on November 13th 2024.

However, rather confusingly, he has also been remanded in custody – at the same police station – ahead of a contempt of court hearing at Woolwich Crown Court on Monday. This is because he has repeatedly defied a court order not to show his film Silenced, having lost a defamation case brought against him by a Syrian refugee who claims to have been libelled in the film. Robinson showed the film at a rally in Trafalgar Square on July 27th and Jordan Peterson put it on X. (The Express has that story.) So, he’s in contempt of court – has been on multiple occasions, since he’s shown the film more than once since being ordered not to – and will likely be sent to jail.

Here’s the Guardian’s account of what’s happened:

The far-Right leader Tommy Robinson has been charged under the Terrorism Act and is being held in custody before a planned march of his supporters amid fears of a repeat of violence that erupted when he was imprisoned in 2018.

Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, handed himself on Friday afternoon in to Folkestone police station where he was charged with failing to provide the PIN to his mobile phone under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act. He was bailed to appear in court next month, Kent police said. He was then remanded in custody under a high court direction, the force said.

In July Robinson allegedly refused to give police access to his mobile phone when he was stopped under the Terrorism Act at the Channel tunnel. He had been bailed subject to returning to Folkestone police station.

He is also due to appear at Woolwich crown court on Monday on separate charges of contempt of court for repeating libellous allegations against a Syrian refugee. Robinson’s supporters, who now control his X account, told his 1 million followers on the platform that he is being held on remand until Monday’s court appearance.

To complicate things further, Tommy Robinson has organised a rally in Westminster on Saturday – a rally he won’t now be attending. Indeed, some of Robinson’s supporters claim the reason he’s being held in custody is so he cannot attend the rally. Needless to say, Stand Up to Racism has organised a counter-protest on Saturday. The Guardian has more on this:

The Metropolitan police has said it expects a “busy day” on Saturday as Robinson’s supporters plan to march from Victoria to Whitehall under the banner “Uniting the Kingdom”, while a counter Stand Up to Racism protest is also planned. In addition the United Friends and Families Campaign is planning a protest in Trafalgar Square against the acquittal this week of the firearms officer who shot dead Chris Kaba.

The anti-fascist campaign Hope Not Hate, predicted the planned far-right demonstration on Saturday will morph into a protest demanding Robinson’s freedom. It also fears a repeat of June 2018 when five police officers were injured during clashes with Robinson’s supporters.

Speaking at a briefing before Robinson’s charge had been confirmed Joe Mulhall, its director of research, said: “If we look at what happened in 2018 when he was previously imprisoned it actually galvanised the Free Tommy movement, which saw the largest demonstrations we’d seen in a very long time outside parliament. And they were very, very angry and confrontational. There were scenes of people throwing bottles at Downing Street and the like. I think Lennon is anticipating that will happen again. His whole thing is that he’s a martyr going down for free speech.”

LBC also has an account of Robinson’s arrest, as does Sky News and BBC News.