Tommy Robinson ordered to pay £100,000 to Syrian refugee after losing libel case

India McTaggart
·2 min read
Tommy Robinson defended himself in court - David Rose
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Tommy Robinson has lost a libel case brought against him by a Syrian schoolboy who was filmed being attacked at school.

The English Defence League founder linked with far-Right extremism, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, has been ordered to pay £100,000 in damages to the schoolboy, Jamal Hijazi.

The 17-year-old was filmed being attacked in the playground at Almondbury School in Huddersfield in November 2018.

Shortly after the video of the incident went viral, Mr Robinson claimed in two Facebook videos that Jamal was "not innocent and he violently attacks young English girls in his school".

In the clips viewed by nearly one million people, the 38-year-old also claimed Jamal "beat a girl black and blue" and "threatened to stab" another boy at his school, allegations the teenager denies.

At a four-day trial in April, Jamal's lawyers said that Mr Robinson's comments had "a devastating effect" on the schoolboy and his family who had come to the UK as refugees from Homs, Syria.

Mr Robinson, who represented himself, argued his comments were substantially true, claiming to have "uncovered dozens of accounts of aggressive, abusive and deceitful behaviour" by Jamal.

Tommy Robinson arriving at the Old Bailey in 2019 for contempt of court wearing a T-shirt that read 'convicted of journalism' - JULIAN SIMMONDS
Tommy Robinson arriving at the Old Bailey in 2019 for contempt of court wearing a T-shirt that read 'convicted of journalism' - JULIAN SIMMONDS

However, in a judgment delivered on Thursday, Mr Justice Nicklin ruled in Jamal's favour and granted him £100,000 in damages.

Catrin Evans QC, for Jamal, previously said that Robinson's comments led to the teenager "facing death threats and extremist agitation" and that he should receive damages of between £150,000 and £190,000.

During the trial, Ms Evans described Mr Robinson as "a well-known extreme-right advocate" with an "anti-Muslim agenda" who used social media to spread his views.

She added that Mr Robinson's videos "turned Jamal into the aggressor and the bully into a righteous white knight".

However, Mr Robinson maintained he was an independent journalist during the trial, telling the court: "The media simply had zero interest in the other side of this story, the uncomfortable truth."

A hearing will follow Thursday's judgment to consider the consequences of the ruling.