Tommy Robinson has lost a Court of Appeal challenge against his 18-month sentence for the civil offence of contempt of court.
Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was jailed last October for pleading guilty for the offence.
The 42-year-old was jailed after admitting 10 breaches of a High Court order made in 2021, which barred him from repeating false allegations against a Syrian refugee who successfully sued him for libel.
He was due to be released on July 26, however his legal team argued there was a medical case for that to be brought forward.
Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon was jailed
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Tommy Robinson appearing at Woolwich Crown Court, south London
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People gather at Trafalgar Square in central London during a protest organised by Tommy Robinson
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The ex-English Defence League leader was successfully sued by Jamal Hijazi, a then-schoolboy who was assaulted at Almondbury Community School in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, in October 2018.
After a clip of the incident went viral, Robinson made false claims on Facebook, including about Hijazi attacking girls in his school, leading to the libel case.
Justice Nicklin ordered Robinson to pay Hijazi £100,000 in damages and his legal costs, as well as making the injunction preventing Robinson from repeating the allegations.
Yaxley-Lennon had made false claims in a viral video that a Syrian teenager was a violent thug. He made the incorrect allegation again in 2024, including during a rally at Trafalgar Square.
Williamson KC, for Robinson, said he has ADHD and “complex post-traumatic stress disorder”, which the sentencing judge was not fully aware of.
He said: “(Mr Justice Johnson) did not have before him this additional factor, which in of itself means that the conditions that Mr Yaxley-Lennon faces are more onerous…He is being kept safe by the authorities in segregation, but being kept safe is making him ill, and more ill than Mr Justice Johnson could have foreseen on the basis of the information before him.””
Aidan Eardley KC, for the Solicitor General, said in written submissions there is “no evidence that the conditions in which the appellant is being held are more severe than was anticipated” by Mr Justice Johnson.
He said: “Legally, there is no basis for arguing that conditions unforeseeably imposed by the prison authorities could found a ground of appeal.”
