Well, Now…

August 1, 2018 Longrider Civil Liberties, General News, misanthropy, Political 13

That’s interesting.

Tommy Robinson, the founder of the English Defence League, is to be freed from prison after the court of appeal ordered that he should be retried on a contempt of court charge.

I’m not sure I was expecting that. I fully expected the powers that be to close ranks on this one.

At the court of appeal on Wednesday, the lord chief justice, Lord Burnett of Maldon, upheld the Canterbury conviction but said the ruling in Leeds was “flawed” and there should be a retrial.

Well, I suppose that flawed is one way of putting it. How reporting on a case post conviction was contempt of court is something of a mystery. One might also start going all tinfoil hat and believe that it was used to silence him.

The judgment added: “It was unclear what conduct was said to comprise a breach of that order and the appellant was sentenced on the basis of conduct which fell outside the scope of that order.

Well, now. The retrial should prove interesting.

“… The decision at Leeds crown court to proceed to committal to prison so promptly and without due regard for [part] of the rules gave rise to unfairness.

Indeed. One might begin to believe that it was a case of the process being the punishment and the crime was to be a thorn in the side of the establishment.

13 Comments

  2. Also worth looking at the SB’s post on the original conviction in May (What on earth happened to poor Tommy…), not least to note the naked contempt in which a respected member of the establishment holds those who don’t fit the Metropolitan, ‘liberal’ profile.

    It was satisfying in his post today that he at least had the grace to eat some humble pie, but it seemed like a very small slice.

  4. I think that what might have been missed is that there were linked trials that could have been influenced. Different in USA where they are used to more reporting during trials.

      • Not from his own mouth he didn’t.
        There are two videos on Youtube worth watching, one where he is interviewed by Ezra Levant from Rebel Media, and one (do watch this) where Tucker Carlson from Fox interviews him, i had tears in my own eyes after watching that interview thismorning….he states he did not plead guilty because the question of pleading was not put to him in tat kangaroo court, i believe him.

        I hope President Trump offers him and his family asylum, because i truly believe our own establishment via their politicised goons, some in blue uniforms some in nightshirts won’t be happy until he is dead, they tried before when he was ‘accidentally’ put into a room in prison with adherents of the great religion, he got away with a serious pasting only because he’s a tough little bugger and a fought back.

        I take my hat off to him, a better man than i will ever be.

  5. Tommy Robinson is freed on bail after top judges rule his 13-month sentence for contempt was ‘muddled and rushed’ because he was jailed just five hours after his arrest

    Last month Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon, appealed against his 13-month jail term for contempt of court claiming the punishment was ‘excessive’ and the hearing was ‘rushed’.

    Today the Court of Appeal quashed his conviction (The key passage explaining the decision is in bold:) saying the decision to jail him within five hours of his arrest ‘gave rise to unfairness’ and ignored court rules.

    A panel of three senior judges also criticised Mr Justice Marson, the judge who sent him to prison, saying he gave ‘no clarity’ about what parts of Robinson’s Facebook Live video were in contempt of court.

    He ignored the fact the film was deleted shortly after his arrest on the steps of the court and also denied Robinson the chance to defend himself properly by not adjourning the case to another day, the ruling said.

    Robinson’s successful appeal caused supporters to cry with joy and cheer wildly before chanting ‘Tommy’s coming home’ to the tune of England football anthem Three Lions.

    Lord Burnett, giving reasons for the Court of Appeal’s decision relating to the Leeds Crown Court allegation, said that once Robinson ‘had removed the video from Facebook there was no longer sufficient urgency to justify immediate proceedings’.

    The court agreed that the judge at Leeds should not have commenced contempt proceedings that day.

    Lord Burnett said that ‘no particulars of the contempt were formulated or put to the appellant’, and there was ‘a muddle over the nature of the contempt being considered’.

    He added: ‘Where a custodial term of considerable length is being imposed, it should not usually occur so quickly after the conduct which is complained of; a sentence of committal to immediate custody had been pronounced within five hours of the conduct taking place.’

    No particulars of the contempt were formulated or put to the appellant. There was a muddle over the nature of the contempt being considered. In both the short explanation given by the judge of the general nature of the alleged contempt and the sentencing remarks, there was reference to matters that could not been a breach of the section 4(2) order. [64]. The failure to follow Part 48 Crim PR was more than technical [66]. There was no clarity about what the appellant was admitting or on what basis he was being sentenced.

    Ref:
    https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2018/08/why-tommy-robinson-has-been-released-on-bail/

  6. Not surprised the sentence was quashed. Marson QC was playing very fast and loose with established judicial rules and procedures. Doesn’t matter what you think of the defendant, you can’t just airbrush over legal precedent seemingly at a whim.

    • Yep. The pre-arrest video of sneering Judge Geoffrey Marson with female arresting Sgt looking out window said a lot.

      The anti-TR Bigots who wrongly claimed he admitted guilt and endangered trial may now find Judge has done that.

      If I were a RoP rep barrister, I’d be considering appeal based on a biased Judge who doesn’t know law

Comments are closed.