A prosecutor urged a London jury Friday to convict far-right activist Tommy Robinson, arguing that his posts and video showed harassment causing fear of violence against two journalists.
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, denies two charges of harassment causing fear of violence. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said May 21, 2025, that it authorized the Metropolitan Police to charge Robinson with harassment causing fear of violence against two men. He faces two offenses over alleged conduct from Aug. 5 to Aug. 7, 2024. The trial identified Andrew Young and Jacob Dirnhuber as the journalists involved.
The case followed MailOnline coverage of Robinson’s Cyprus holiday. At the trial’s opening, prosecutors alleged Robinson exposed the reporters to threats after the coverage. They also said he sent photographers to the journalists’ homes and shared images connected to their residences on X. Prosecutors said Robinson’s followers threatened the reporters after his posts appeared.
In Friday’s closing argument at Southwark Crown Court, prosecutor Ben Holt pointed to posts and a video Robinson released after the Daily Mail wrote about his trip to Cyprus and alleged role in influencing England’s 2024 riots. Holt described the material as threats aimed at the journalists and urged jurors to weigh the posts and video as evidence of intimidation.
Robinson testified that the article had left him panicked because he believed it revealed the hotel where he was staying with family and friends. He said he also feared it put his former wife at risk.
Defense barrister Alisdair Williamson KC argued Robinson was justified in responding and asked jurors to weigh whether he had shown restraint. Earlier in the trial, jurors heard a voicemail attributed to Robinson and addressed to Daily Mail editor-in-chief Ted Verity. Robinson told Verity, “I’ll make you famous and your families,” as EconoTimes reported in an earlier account of the recording.
No verdict had been reported by Friday.
