Citizen journalist and street organiser Tommy Robinson has been formally released from the bail conditions imposed on him by the Old Bailey court in London, as he awaits his ongoing contempt of court trial to go to the Attorney General.
Robinson was bailed following a successful appeal against his conviction for contempt of court, handed down in May in a case which saw the former English Defence League founder-turned anti-extremism campaigner go from arrest to court, to prison in a matter of hours.
The appeal ruled the process had been too hasty and due legal procedure had not been followed and “gave rise to unfairness”, meaning Robinson was entitled to a retrial in London’s Old Bailey court. The Recorder of London, a senior judge in the British legal system, however, ruled he was unable to give the case the attention it deserved and referred the matter upwards to the Attorney General.
Robinson was released on bail and not required to return to prison; however, a brief hearing at the Old Bailey Monday made clear that because Robinson was no longer being tried there, the Old Bailey bail conditions no longer applied.
This means Robinson is now freed from the conditions that he not go within 400 metres (438 yards) of the Leeds courthouse where he was arrested in May.
Robinson may yet be sent back to jail once the new court case has been heard if he is found guilty again of having acted in contempt of court. However, unlike the previous trial, Robinson will be cross-examined on the evidence before a decision is reached.
Reporting restrictions prevented British media from revealing the details of the case which Robinson was jailed for speaking about earlier in 2018, but the limits were lifted in October when the first convictions were made. Some 20 men were jailed for child sexual abuse in and around the town of Huddersfield, with convictions including ringleader Amere Singh Dhaliwal who was found guilty of rape of a child under 13 and prostitution.