Tommy Robinson, founder of the far-right group English Defence League, is to be released from prison in days after his sentence for contempt of court was cut short by four months.
The High Court in London on Tuesday ruled that Robinson should be freed within the next week after he agreed not to repeat false allegations he made about a Syrian refugee.
Mr Justice Johnson said that while there was an “absence of contrition or remorse” from the defendant, there had nevertheless been a “change in his attitude”.
Robinson, 42, released videos in 2018 in which he falsely claimed that the refugee, Jamal Hijazi, was part of a gang and had taken part in a violent assault. The videos were viewed almost a million times and Hijazi became a target of abuse.
Hijazi successfully sued Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, for libel, and the High Court issued an injunction in 2021 preventing him from repeating the allegations.
But Robinson went on to breach the injunction, publishing a video entitled “Silenced” that contained statements prohibited by the order.
He received an 18-month sentence by Mr Justice Johnson in October last year after he admitted to 10 allegations of contempt of court.
The sentence comprised a “punitive” element of 14 months and a “coercive” element of four months. The purpose of the latter element was to encourage him to comply with the court order he had breached.
At the time of the sentence, the judge told Robinson that he could have the “coercive” element removed if he took steps to “purge” his contempt of court.
In a ruling on Tuesday, Mr Justice Johnson said that he was satisfied Robinson had demonstrated a commitment to complying with the injunction.
The judge said Robinson had assured the court he had “done all that he reasonably can” not to further breach the court order.
Robinson told the court he had deleted offending materials from his account on social media platform X.
The judge said: “I remit four months of the committal term. The substituted term is 14 months less 3 days. The practical effect is that the defendant will be released once he has completed the punitive element of the term, which will be within the next week.”
Lawyers for the solicitor-general agreed that Robinson was not in continuing breach of the injunction.
However, they warned they could bring a new application for contempt of court “if it should transpire that the defendant has done anything else, since his committal, to bring about the publication of any material that is prohibited by the injunction”.
