Tommy Robinson is due to be released from prison within the next week after his 18-month sentence for contempt of court was reduced by four months.
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was jailed for 18 months in October after admitting multiple breaches of an injunction made in 2021, which barred him from repeating false allegations against a Syrian refugee who successfully sued him for libel.
The sentence comprised a 14-month “punitive” element and a four-month “coercive” element.
At the time, sentencing judge Mr Justice Johnson told Robinson he could have the latter element taken off his sentence if he were to “purge” his contempt by taking steps to comply with the injunction.
The far-right activist was previously due to be released on 26 July, but had applied to the High Court to purge his contempt order.
Lawyers for the Solicitor General said that they agreed that Robinson had taken steps to adhere to the injunction.
In a ruling on Tuesday, Mr Justice Johnson said that there was an “absence of contrition or remorse” from Robinson, but that he had shown a “change in attitude” since he was sentenced.
He said: “He (Robinson) has given an assurance that he will comply with the injunction in the future, that he has no intention of breaching it again, and that he is aware of the consequences of what would happen if he breached the injunction again.”
He said he considered it “appropriate” to grant Robinson’s application.
He added: “The practical effect, subject to confirmation by the prison authorities, is that the defendant will be released once he has completed the punitive element, which I understand will be within the next week.”
Robinson attended the hearing on Tuesday via video-link from HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes.
He showed no immediate reaction when the judgment was handed down.
Robinson’s road to the High Court
Robinson was jailed in 2024 for 10 admitted breaches of the injunction, after the Solicitor General issued two contempt claims against him.
The first claim alleged that Robinson “knowingly” breached the order on four occasions, including by having “published, caused, authorised or procured” a film called Silenced, which contains the libellous allegations, in May 2023.
The film was pinned to the top of the activist’s profile on the social media site X (formerly Twitter).
He also repeated the claims in three interviews between February and June 2023.
The second claim was issued in August 2024 and concerned six further breaches, including playing the film at a demonstration in Trafalgar Square in central London last summer.
Handing down the sentence at Woolwich Crown Court, Mr Justice Johnson said Robinson could “purge” his contempt by showing “a commitment to comply with the injunction”.
He said this could include taking steps such as removing Silenced and other publications which breached the injunction from his social media accounts.
After being jailed, Robinson lost a bid to bring a legal challenge against the Ministry of Justice over his segregation from other prisoners behind bars in March.
He then lost a challenge to his sentence at the Court of Appeal in April, but three senior judges said he could “still reduce the period he has to spend in custody by taking the steps identified” by Mr Justice Johnson.
The injunction was issued after Robinson 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 Mr Hijazi attacking girls in his school, leading to the libel case.
Mr Justice Nicklin ordered Robinson to pay Mr Hijazi £100,000 in damages and his legal costs, as well as making the injunction preventing Robinson from repeating the allegations.
Mr Justice Johnson said on Tuesday that Robinson could be jailed for up to two years if he breached the injunction again in the future.
