Tommy Robinson guilty of harassing two Daily Mail journalists

Political activist Tommy Robinson has been convicted of harassing two Daily Mail journalists.

A jury at Southwark Crown Court found the 43-year-old, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, guilty of two counts of harassment causing fear of violence.

The case concerned Robinson’s response to Daily Mail and Mail Online articles from August 2024, showing him on holiday in Cyprus while riots took place in England following the Southport murders.

The court had heard how Robinson, from Bedfordshire, used “bully-boy, intimidatory tactics” to frighten reporters Andrew Young and Jacob Dirnhuber, forcing them to employ security or leave home.

Robinson had denied the charges, saying he had “panicked” and had been “scared” when the Daily Mail published a story accusing him of “stoking race riots from his sunbed”.

He told the jury he felt the article had “endangered” his family by revealing they were staying in a hotel near Ayia Napa in Cyprus.

After the guilty verdicts, Frank Ferguson, the head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said Robinson had “weaponised social media and subjected two journalists to a campaign of harassment which caused them serious fear of violence”.​

Robinson was granted bail ahead of his sentencing, scheduled for 16 December‌.

Harassment causing fear of violence can carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, or up to 14 years if the offence is racially or religiously aggravated.

During the week-long trial, prosecutor Ben Holt had told the court that after three girls were murdered in Southport on 29 July 2024, Robinson had made a number of posts on social media. This had alerted the Daily Mail and Mail Online to the fact that he was in Cyprus.

The Daily Mail published articles with photos of the defendant, including one showing him “reclining on a sunbed using his mobile telephone”.

Southwark Crown Court heard that over the following days, he responded with a series of posts on his X account.

On 4 August, these had included: “The daily mail have purposely gave the location of where I am with my children knowing full well that people want to kill me.”