Tommy Robinson Faces Harassment Charges in Southwark Crown Court
Activist Stephen Lennon accused of intimidatory tactics against journalists after Mail Online story.
Callum Smith
Political activist Tommy Robinson is on trial for harassment.
Robinson contacted Andrew Young on August 5. Young characterized the conversation as "menacing."
Robinson claimed he was "Panicked, totally panicked. Panicked and terrified that what was online currently was about to change my wife’s life forever" following the Mail Online story's publication.
Panicked, totally panicked. Panicked and terrified that what was online currently was about to change my wife’s life forever.
He reportedly sought to track down the journalists to "question them on camera" and "put pressure on them." Robinson stated, "I just wanted them to acknowledge – is it OK? If I was to do this to you, would that be OK?"
Robinson considered it "totally reasonable … under the circumstances" to post a picture of Mr. Dirnhuber outside his home on X. He asserted his intent to "put pressure on him."
When questioned about exposing Mr. Dirnhuber to threats of violence, Robinson responded, "Not at all. I didn’t really think about what he was being exposed to."
Robinson claims he attempted to compel the Mail Online to remove an image of his ex-wife from the story. He also wanted to confront the Daily Mail regarding "the wrongness of what they had done."
He asserts that "within hours" of the story appearing online, individuals posted the name of his hotel in Cyprus. Those individuals publishing the hotel name were "telling people to head there" and stating, "this is where I am for the foreseeable future."
Robinson reportedly tagged Elon Musk in one of his X posts about the Daily Mail article, hoping for its removal due to guidelines against posting addresses. Robinson, who founded the English Defence League, stated, "I would not endanger any innocent family."