What do you think of Tommy Robinson's criminal history?
2005 – Assault
Robinson was first convicted back in 2005 for assaulting an off-duty police officer who had "intervened in a bid to protect the EDL founder's girlfriend" as they argued in the street, said The Mirror. Robinson was sentenced to 12 months in prison.
2011 – Assault
Robinson was convicted of assault again in 2011, receiving a suspended sentence for butting a man at an EDL rally in Blackburn.
2011 – Community order
In July 2011, Robinson was given a 12-month community rehabilitation order for leading a brawl that involved more than 100 football fans in Luton in August 2010.
2013 – False passport
Robinson was then jailed in 2013 for using a false passport, having attempted to use someone else's to enter the US. He had "previously been refused entry to the US", said The Independent, and borrowed the passport of his friend, Andrew McMaster, in addition to carrying his own.
On arrival in New York, "he was caught when customs officials at JFK airport took his fingerprints and realised he was not Mr McMaster". Before they could follow up, Robinson "left the airport, entering the US illegally".
After returning to the UK, using his own passport, he was arrested and admitted to the charges in court, receiving a 10-month prison sentence.
2014 – Mortgage fraud
In January 2014, Robinson was given an 18 -month prison sentence for "conspiring with others to obtain a mortgage by misrepresentation from the Abbey and Halifax banks", said The Guardian.
2019 – Contempt of court
Robinson was again jailed in 2019 for contempt of court after interfering with a grooming gang trial by livestreaming on Facebook outside Leeds Crown Court in 2018.
Judges said Robinson had called for "vigilante action" during the hour-and-a-half broadcast while the jury considered its verdict. The livestream was viewed more than 250,000 times, and called on supporters to "harass a defendant by finding him, knocking on his door, following him, and watching him", judges said.
2021 – Stalking
The next brush with the law came after The Independent journalist Lizzie Dearden and her boyfriend Samuel Partridge reported Robinson to the police for stalking, in January 2021.
Robinson "stood outside Dearden’s house and shouted unsubstantiated allegations about Partridge" and "threatened to repeatedly return to her address", said The Guardian. He had found her address through a private investigator after she had enquired through his legal team about an alleged misuse of money donated by his supporters.
2024 – Contempt of court
Robinson was jailed again for contempt of court for being in breach of an injunction by repeating false allegations about a Syrian refugee.
Credit to Tommy Robinson?