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Fri, Oct 23, 2026

'He threatened people and acted like a bully': Jury in Tommy Robinson trial over harassment of Mail journalists urged not to let him 'live in a vigilante world' when coming to their verdicts

'He threatened people and acted like a bully': Jury in Tommy Robinson trial over harassment of Mail journalists urged not to let him 'live in a vigilante world' when coming to their verdicts

Robinson was living in a 'vigilante world' when he retaliated against two journalists by tracking them down with private investigators, a court heard today.

The far-Right activist, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, sent photographers to the reporters' homes after the Mail had angered him by publishing an article saying he was 'stoking race riots from his sunbed'.

The EDL founder, 43, is accused of two charges of harassment causing fear of violence, which he denies, against journalists Andrew Young and Jacob Dirnhuber.

They had revealed how Lennon was using his Tommy Robinson account on X to tweet about the riots from his Cyprus holiday resort.

Robinson is on trial at London's Southwark Crown Court accused of using 'bullyboy, intimidatory tactics' to threaten the two reporters in 'retaliation' for revealing the location where he was on holiday with his family.

Following a day which saw Robinson, 43, give evidence from the witness box, closing speeches began today, with prosecutor Ben Holt saying the defendant 'didn't care' how the two alleged victims felt, adding: 'He just threatened people and acted like a bully.'

Mr Holt told jurors that a video posted by Robinson which said 'Men's Rules' apply to anyone who endangered his family was a threat to put the recipients in fear of violence.

Mr Holt said: 'Let's get real shall we, and not live in a vigilante world where Men's Rules apply, whatever they are.

'Let's ground ourselves in a country where there is law and order.'

He added that Robinson's 'retaliatory' threats were that of 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth'.

Tommy Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, arriving at Southwark Crown Court to heat the closing speeches in his trial

Robinson has told the jury he was angered by the Mail's report.

The court has heard he sent Mr Dirnhuber the message 'I'll be knocking on your door', and phoned Mr Young 'swearing and shouting', saying he had researched Mr Young's family and telling him: 'I'm coming to get you.'

A man identifying himself as 'Tommy Robinson' also left a voicemail on the Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Mail's mobile phone saying: 'I've already located every f***ing one of you.'

The allegations against Robinson date back to the horrific murders of three young girls at a Taylor Swift–themed dance workshop in Southport on 29 July 2024.

Robinson was on holiday in Cyprus with his family and friends when he made a number of social media posts.

Mr Holt said the background to the case was 'considerable unrest in the UK' and some people thought 'Robinson was whipping up the action and running away.'

'There was feeling from some people that this man was able to conduct that sort of activity from afar.'

Jurors heard Robinson has in the region of one million followers on X - 'plainly a significant number' - and one of his posts was read '4.7million times'.

Mr Dirnhuber and his team dispatched Mr Young to Cyprus along with a photographer and they found Robinson lounging on his sunbed using his mobile phone.

Mr Holt said: 'They were only able to do that work because he had tweeted about where he was.'

He said it 'may not have been a good call' to publish a picture of Robinson's ex-wife, which caused him to be furious.

The Mail article did not mention the ex-wife at all, said Mr Holt, and while it did refer to Robinson's children, they were not photographed.

The prosecutor said: 'He never once asked for the article to be taken down or amended in any way.'

In fact he had only lodged a complaint about it to the Press regulator, IPSO, on Thursday this week, more than two years after the incident.

Jurors were asked to consider whether Robinson's response was reasonable, the prosecutor said.

'Retaliation is not a defence. The days of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth are long gone,' he said.

'What's "good for the goose is good for the gander" is not a motto of reasonable behaviour, it's the mantra of someone who wants to get even.'

Mr Holt said when Robinson was asked what he meant by this phrase, he said 'he was putting them in the same position he was in - a position where there is fear of violence.

'He wants to get his own back. He feels wronged and he's not going to stand for it.

'It's not a defence to say "You've done wrong, so I'll do wrong to you". That's what the defendant meant when he refers to "Men's Rules".'

Mr Holt said Robinson had issued 'veiled threats' to Mr Dirnhuber.

'Mr Dirnhuber is not going to look at his phone and think, that's great news, Tommy Robinson is going to visit me, I look forward to seeing him...of course he would not, he's in fear of him.'

Earlier jurors were told Robinson has received a number of 'threat to life' warnings from Bedfordshire Police dating back to 2018 'regarding left wing activists who had sourced his address'.

In May 2019 a video was posted online with an individual threatening to stab him in the neck.

Five months later Robinson received another warning from Bedfordshire Police and was advised to change his daily routines, and walk in public with an associate.

His car was set alight in 2020 and, in August 2024 a video was circulated online where a man identified as Habeeb Khan was wearing a balaclava, brandishing an AK47 machine gun and shouting: 'EDL I am going to blow you away'.

The trial continues.


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