Tommy Robinson could also be killed in jail by Muslim inmates, guards worry as he’s moved to closed wing for his personal security

Tommy Robinson has been moved to a ‘closed wing’ in prison after receiving reports he had a ‘mark on his head’ and ‘would be killed by a lifer’, the High Court has heard.

Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is serving an 18-month prison sentence for contempt of court after breaching an injunction. 

The attack fears were revealed at a High Court hearing as the activist applied to launch a legal challenge against the Government over his segregation while in prison. 

After being sentenced in October last year, Robinson was admitted to HMP Belmarsh, but ‘on his first day he stated he had a conflict with followers of Islam’, the High Court heard. 

He was then moved to HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes on November 1, but the prison received intelligence over threats to Robinson, with two other prisoners supposedly ‘plotting to assault’ him, the court was told. 

This resulted in him being moved to a ‘closed wing which cannot be accessed by other prisoners’. Although he still has access to a laptop, with email capabilities, and gym facilities for three hours a day. 

Despite this, Robinson’s barristers argued he should be allowed to bring a legal challenge over his segregation from other prisoners at HMP Woodhill after suffering an ‘evident decline in his mental health’.

His barrister, Alisdair Williamson KC, told the court that HMP Woodhill has ‘a significant Muslim population’, adding that ‘it appears to be that which is causing a difficulty’.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) opposed the bid, with its lawyers stating it is ‘not an arguable claim’ and that Robinson was isolated following threats to his safety. 

In written submissions, Tom Cross, for the MoJ, said: ‘HMP Woodhill received several intelligence reports showing a non-speculative risk to the claimant, including that two other prisoners at HMP Woodhill were plotting to assault the claimant to gain kudos and notoriety, and that the claimant had a ‘mark on his head’ and would be killed by a lifer if located on a wing.’

Mr Cross said that Robinson remained on the ‘closed wing’ but that ‘this is ultimately an interim position’ until he can be moved to a different wing, which is undergoing repairs.

He continued: ‘The significant risks both to the claimant’s own safety and to the good order or discipline of the prison required him to remain removed from association with other prisoners, subject to review.’

He added that the MoJ had considered whether an alternative prison was available, but had concluded that ‘there is not presently another option where the risk to the claimant, and to good order or discipline, could be better managed’.

Mr Cross also said that Robinson’s segregation was ‘more permissive’ than usual, including having access to a laptop, being able to send and receive emails ‘in their thousands’, and having access to gym facilities for three hours a day. 

He also said that Robinson works two-and-three-quarter hours a day, three days a week, ‘painting and decorating’.   

Responding to the MoJ’s submission, Mr Williamson said: ‘He (Robinson) disagrees that he has been working three times a week. In fact, he has the opportunity of working for one-and-a-half hours, on a Wednesday.

‘He wanted to work with other people. He is working cleaning cells, on his own. When he goes to the gym, he is locked in, on his own. The comparators that are provided (with other prisoners), we respectfully submit, do not assist.’ 

Mr Williamson, said Robinson had asked to be moved to open prison in February, stating: ‘The solitary confinement is destroying my mind.’

Robinson continued: ‘I am terrified of the long-term consequences of the continued solitary confinement. I feel I am being provoked to react. I want to leave prison mentally well, not mentally broken.’

Robinson said in a separate complaint, also made last month, that he felt the ‘continued isolation’ was ‘politically motivated because of my activism and beliefs’.

Mr Williamson said: ‘We accept that there was and perhaps is a threat to the claimant at HMP Woodhill which justified the original decision to segregate him.

‘So our focus is the Secretary of State giving them leave to continue that process in the face of a decline, an evident decline, in his mental health.’

He continued: ‘We are presented with a position that Woodhill is not a safe place for him to be unless he is in segregation, but that segregation is, we suggest, harming him. It is clear, we submit, that the distress he is suffering goes beyond that which is inherent in incarceration.’

The barrister added that Robinson should be moved to a different prison ‘where he does not have to be kept in isolation’.

The hearing had been adjourned until 12.30pm to allow Robinson to give instructions to his legal representatives. 

Shortly before the hearing was due to resume, Robinson returned to the video room at HMP Woodhill and held up a piece of red paper to the camera, which read: ‘They cut my phone off.’

After holding up the sign to the camera, Robinson, dressed in a grey jumper and with a beard, was then seen to use a laptop which the court previously heard he was allowed to use in prison.

After the hearing resumed, Mr Williamson told Mr Justice Chamberlain: ‘Our call was cut off, we presume by the prison authorities. I believe I have enough instructions.’

Mr Justice Chamberlain said: ‘It does seem to me that if there are instructions he wishes to give to Mr Williamson, he ought to be able to give those instructions.’

He continued: ‘The court has other business to attend to today and we do require the prison to facilitate communication between Mr Yaxley-Lennon and his barrister, and that needs to happen straight away.’

Robinson then held up another sign to the camera, which read: ‘My calls are live monitored. They were listening when they cut it off.’

After the hearing concluded, Robinson held up a piece a paper which read: ‘Can’t lock up the truth.’

Robinson was jailed in October last year by Mr Justice Johnson, after admitting 10 breaches of a High Court order made in 2021. 

The order barred him from repeating libellous allegations against a Syrian refugee who successfully sued him.

He is set to be released from HMP Woodhill on July 26 and appeared from prison on Thursday via video link in a grey jumper.

In a ruling on Friday, Mr Justice Chamberlain dismissed Robinson’s bid, stating his case was ‘not arguable’.