Tommy Robinson’s life inside jail revealed: How Far-right activist’s ‘Belmarsh Prison keep’ will see him saved in ‘full segregation for his security’ regardless of inmate breaking down in tears over final time behind bars

Tommy Robinson is preparing to spend his first night of a long spell in segregation at one of the country’s most notorious prisons after he was jailed for contempt of court earlier today.

The 41-year-old, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, has arrived at maximum security Belmarsh, in south-east London, where he will be kept away from other prisoners ‘for his own safety’. 

Belmarsh holds some of the country’s most dangerous criminals and terrorists. 

His location was revealed tonight on a statement posted to his X account.  

Robinson will see out his 18-month sentence in complete isolation after he admitted 10 breaches of a 2021 High Court order barring him from repeating libellous allegations against Syrian refugee Jamal Hijazi, who had successfully sued him.

Despite the court order, Robinson aired the claims in his film, Silenced, which was funded by Infowars – an American company founded by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. 

For Robinson, a stay in Belmarsh represents a moment of history repeating after the English Defence League founder formerly spent a stint there in 2019 when he was again convicted for contempt of court.

Robinson had filmed outside the trial of men later convicted of sexual abuse which was the subject of reporting restrictions.

The last time he spent time in isolation at the Category A men’s prison, Robinson was visibly reduced to tears as he spoke about being kept in solitary confinement.

He was interviewed briefly by broadcaster and actor Ross Kemp, who was making an ITV documentary at the time about the high-profile prison.

Cameras showed how he had a stash of food to keep him going, including Jaffa cakes, apple juice, chocolate eclairs, tuna chunks, Coco Pops and Ready Brek.

Kemp said he was ‘reluctant’ to speak to Robinson, but wanted to ask him why he had put out a call on social media for people to demonstrate outside the prison.

Robinson replied: ‘Essentially, I wanted to make sure that I have my rights. I know what ten weeks of solitary confinement does – it’s not good for you.’

But Kemp said: ‘It’s not solitary confinement as in terms of the ‘cooler’ – it’s not a box with nothing in it.

‘You’ve got a TV, you’ve got a kettle, but also do you not think by calling a demonstration that could possibly end in violence, that’s helping your cause?’

Robinson insisted: ‘It sends a message to the establishment that this doesn’t work.’

Kemp returned to visit Robinson again at the end of his time at the prison, asking him: ‘So how have you enjoyed Belmarsh?’

Robinson – by this time sporting a beard – told him: ‘This has been as best as could possibly be being locked on my own for months.

‘I haven’t been in Belmarsh, I haven’t looked around, I haven’t seen another prisoner. I’ve seen Julian Assange through the window.

Kemp, noticing Robinson tearing up, then asked him: ‘How are you feeling right now? You seem very emotional.’

Robinson, who started crying, replied: ‘I’d say that my thing is because I know I’m going home to my kids and you just want to be normal.’

Looking lost for words, he moved towards the corner of his cell and said: ‘Yeah, that’s embarrassing.’ 

Robinson openly showed his emotions only last week, prior to his latest arrest and conviction. 

In a post on his X account on Friday, Robinson tearfully spoke about contemplating life back behind bars and told an interviewer: ‘The hard bit when I get emotional now is because [of] my kids.’

Today’s conviction marks the fourth time Robinson has been locked up for contempt of court.

His first was in 2017,  when he was jailed for filming within the precincts of a court. He was convicted again in 2022 for failing to attend a High Court hearing, but avoided jail and instead paid a £900 fine.

Prior to these convictions, in 2013 he was jailed for attempting to use a false passport to enter the US.

Belmarsh’s High Dependency Unit comprises 48 single cells, with Robinson set to spend time just metres away from some of Britain’s most dangerous criminals.

Past inmates in the HSU included feared gangster Colin Gunn, serving 35-years for drugs and conspiracy to murder and Michael Adebolajo, then 28, one of the killers of Fusilier Rigby, in May 2013.

In more recent times, Metropolitan Police constable Wayne Couzens, who kidnapped, raped and strangled Sarah Everard, 33, in 2021, was held in one of the 12 super secure cells for his own protection. Couzens, then 48, was given a whole-life sentence.

The 12 highest security cells are collectively known as Special Secure Unit (SSU) for ‘exceptional risk’ prisoners. 

Hook-handed hate preacher Abu Hamza was held in the SSU before being deported to a US jail.

A source previously said: ‘The HSU has the highest security status as it holds the worst-of-the-worst criminals, who are isolated from the main prison population because they present a constant danger.’

Security includes x-ray machines, numerous CCTV cameras and at least five locked doors before getting inside.

At today’s sentencing, Mr Justice Johnson said he would not suspend Robinson’s sentence due to the seriousness of the offending and because ‘the defendant has a history of poor compliance with court orders’. 

He said the activist would be released half way through his term.

When he was last imprisoned for contempt, Robinson was kept in ‘complete isolation’ for his own protection, his lawyer told today’s court hearing – a precaution that will be repeated this time around. 

Former prison governor Ian Acheson said the decision where to put Robinson would have been a ‘real headache’ for the prison service. 

‘You have someone who would not be considered an escape risk, hasn’t been convicted for a crime of violence and has been found guilty of breaking a civil restriction, so normally he could be put in open conditions,’ he said. 

‘But open prisons are very unsupervised and that could leave Robinson at risk of being attacked. 

‘There is also a risk of his presence disrupting the good order of the prison due to the presence of people who might sympathise with him – particularly as the far-right push the narrative of the rioters being ”political prisoners”.’ 

Mr Acheson said Robinson could be at risk of attack from ‘people who don’t like him’ and consider him a racist, as well as from convicts who sympathise with Islamic extremists. 

And he warned the ‘infiltration’ of organised criminals into the prison system meant there could even be the risk of a ‘bounty’ being put on his head. 

Mr Acheson said the decision about whether to segregate Robinson from other prisoners would have been taken by prison bosses.

Speaking prior to the revelation that Robinson is at Belmarsh, he said: ‘I think the consequences of Robinson being injured or assaulted in prison are so serious due to the risk of inflaming the risk of civil disorder outside that the system ought to segregate him in closed conditions.’

As the sentence was handed down earlier today, Robinson – in a grey suit and white shirt – glanced and nodded at his supporters in the public gallery, and rocked slightly in the dock, with his hands clasped in front of him. 

His supporters packed the public gallery and stood outside the court, with some in court waving and blowing kisses to Robinson as he led away from the dock.

Mr Justice Johnson told the court: ‘In a democratic society underpinned by rule of law, court injunctions must be obeyed. They (defendants) are entitled to disagree with the result, they are not entitled to disobey the court injunction. 

‘Nobody is above the law, nobody can pick and choose which laws they obey. They are not entitled to set themselves up as a judge in their own cause… Otherwise rule of law would break down.

‘The defendant was well aware of the terms of the injunction and the consequences of breaching it. The breaches were not accidental or negligent or merely reckless. Each was a planned, direct and flagrant breach of the court order.’

He described the breaches as ‘sophisticated’ and designed to maximise coverage – with one video reportedly being seen 44 million times.

Robinson had been barred from repeating false allegations against Jamal Hijazi, after the then-schoolboy successfully sued him for libel.

Mr Justice Johnson acknowledged Robinson initially complied with the 2021 injunction until around February 2023, when he was asked about the Hijazi case in an interview.

But the judge said: ‘The primary harm caused by each breach is the corrosive effect it has on the administration of justice.’

He said the fact Robinson continued to host the offending video on his social media further signalled his determination to defy the injunction.

He said: ‘The defendant has not shown any remorse for breaches of the order, it would be surprising if he had done so.

‘The defendant has not shown any inclination to comply with the injunction in the future. All of his actions so far suggest he regards himself as above the law.

‘(He) continues to maintain material on his social media account in breach of the injunction, even as this hearing takes place.’

The judge said Robinson could receive a four-month reduction in his sentence if he showed contrition and removed the video from his social media, while making efforts to have it taken down elsewhere. 

The activist’s contempt breaches include broadcasting a film titled Silenced, at a demonstration in Trafalgar Square in July – one of six actions claimed to have breached the injunction between June and July this year.

The film is also pinned to the top of his X account.

Sasha Wass KC, for Robinson, told the court earlier today that the film’s production was funded by Infowars, a company run by American Alex Jones, who has claimed that the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre was a hoax. 

Mr Hijazi successfully sued Robinson after the then-schoolboy was assaulted at Almondbury Community School in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, in October 2018.

Robinson made false claims after a clip of the incident went viral, including about Mr Hijazi attacking girls in his school, leading to the libel case.

Mr Justice Nicklin ordered Robinson to pay Mr Hijazi £100,000 in damages and his legal costs, as well as making the injunction preventing Robinson from repeating the allegations he made against the then-teenager.

In a separate matter, Robinson has also been charged with failing to provide the PIN to his mobile phone under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act.

It follows his arrest in July at a port in Kent where he was accused of failing to comply with demands from police.

Under schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act, officers are allowed to stop anyone passing through a UK port ‘to determine whether they may be involved or concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism’.

He will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on November 13 in relation to the latter incident.

 Robinson posted a video of himself arriving at Luton Airport on October 20 and said he was surprised he had not been arrested.

He then handed himself in to police, accompanied by a large entourage and many supporters. He was remanded in custody ahead of today’s hearing.

On Saturday, thousands of his supporters gathered in central London for a protest which Robinson missed after he was remanded.

Demonstrators carried placards reading ‘Two tier Keir fuelled the riots’ – a reference to the widespread disorder across the UK this summer amid anger over the Southport dance class massacre, after misinformation on social media wrongly identified the suspected killer as a Muslim migrant – and chanted ‘We want Tommy out’ as they headed from Victoria station to Parliament Square.

Two people were arrested from the far-right march – one for a racially aggravated public order offence and a second for breach of the Public Order Act conditions.

A further pair were arrested for assault at the Stand Up To Racism counter protest.

Key landmarks close to the march routes – including the Cenotaph and the statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square – were sealed off from the public amid concerns about damage.