FAR-right agitator Tommy Robinson has responded after a Glasgow dad’s fundraiser to take him to court raised more than £35,000 in less than a week.
Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, took to Twitter/X, falsely accused Quroum Beg of filming kids in a park.
He apologised on social media but then later took the apology back and said he was “not sorry at all”.
We told how Beg, a dad of three, is aiming to raise £50,000 to take Robinson to court for defamation. He was subjected to death threats after being targeted by Robinson and other far-right accounts sharing misinformation about him.
While Robinson deleted the initial post which branded Beg an “invader”, there are still several posts where the far-right agitator has doubled down on his false allegations.
After the Crowdjustice fundraiser was launched, Robinson took to X and wrote: “I give zero fucks, he will get as much money as Jamal and his lawyers got.”
In 2021, Robinson was ordered to pay £100,000 in libel damages to a Syrian schoolboy. He had published two Facebook videos in response to a viral clip of Jamal Hijazi being attacked, and failed to convince the High Court that his claims about Hijazi – such as alleging that he was attacking “young English girls” – were true.
Justice Nicklin also ordered Robinson to pay legal costs believed to amount to £500,000.
The Guardian reported in 2024 that Hijazi, a refugee, had not seen a penny of the damages he was awarded.
Robinson declared himself bankrupt during the High Court trial. He would later be officially discharged from bankruptcy, and would not have to pay back any debts, including the six-figure legal fees.
When he announced his fundraiser to take legal action, Beg told The National that he was aware of this and that he wanted to “make this stand” against the far-right agitator either way.
Beg’s crowdfunder was launched on Friday afternoon. In just over four days, backers have donated £35,373.
Beg told The National: “I’m really encouraged by the support. I’ve been stopped by so many people here in Glasgow wanting to help.
"I am shocked by the speed but not by how many people want to help. There have been some negative comments online but less about the campaign and more about me and my ethnicity.
"But I’d rather focus on the good in this country and its people than the negative narrative sometimes built around us.”
He will be represented by Glasgow lawyers Bannatyne, Kirkwood, France & Co, the largest media law practice in Scotland which specialises in defamation.
“Despite the work that I’ve done to counter the narrative and defend my reputation, there’s still videos out there, there’s a Spanish version of it, there’s videos in other languages,” he added.
“And actually, Tommy Robinson’s tweets are still up. He deleted the original one, but the other ones are still there and for me, the main thing is I can’t be sure that he won’t do it again to someone else.
“I’ll feel responsible for that. I’m somebody that can articulate or at least try to fight back, there are people who might let this go and I feel a sense of responsibility to just see this through.”
