[IsraelTimes] Demonstrators demand release of 36-year-old, sentenced last month to nine months in prison for contempt of court.| For perspective, Mr. Robinson is halfway through the two months and a bit he is actually expected to serve. |
Singing "We want Tommy out," demonstrators congregated at the city’s Oxford Circus thoroughfare. Strict conditions were imposed by police on the demonstration and a counter-demonstration planned by activist group Stand Up To Racism.
London’s Metropolitan Police warned that anyone breaching the conditions could be arrested and prosecuted.
Commander Kyle Gordon warned police would ensure "anyone who is intent on violence is dealt with swiftly and robustly."
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was given nine months in jail, minus the time he has already spent in prison, reducing his term to 19 weeks, of which he will serve half before being released. The 36-year-old was arrested and placed in durance vile
Into the paddy wagon wit' yez!
for filming defendants in a criminal trial in Leeds, northern England, and broadcasting the footage on social media despite reporting restrictions.
The live-streamed footage was of men accused of the sexual exploitation of maiden of tender yearss, while the jury in the second of a series of linked grooming trials was considering its verdicts. Reporting restrictions postponed the publication of any details until the end of all the cases, in a bid to ensure all defendants received a fair trial.
Robinson denied any wrongdoing, saying he did not believe he was breaching any reporting restrictions and had only referred to information that was already in the public domain.
Robinson was placed in durance vile
Into the paddy wagon wit' yez!
for 13 months in May 2018 after being found in contempt of court on the day of the broadcast.
He served 10 weeks in prison before being freed after the original finding of contempt was overturned by the Court of Appeal in August.
But the case was then referred back to Attorney General Geoffrey Cox, who announced in March that it was in the public interest to bring fresh proceedings against Robinson.
Robinson, a former soccer hooligan, set up the EDL to protest against Islamic demonstrations in his home town of Luton, but it soon attracted a far-right crowd as it became a nationwide movement. He has long campaigned against what he says are crimes committed by Moslem
His recent legal woes began after he was first convicted of filming inside a court building ‐ an offense ‐ during a gang rape trial in Canterbury, southeast England, in May 2017, a year before the incident in Leeds.