Founder of far-right English Defense League admits contempt of court charges

LONDON — The founder of the far-right English Defense League admitted Monday that he was in contempt of court for violating an order barring him from repeating libelous allegations against a Syrian refugee.

Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, better known as Tommy Robinson, admitted in Woolwich Crown Court that he violated the order on several occasions while giving interviews broadcast on YouTube, and in a video he broadcast during a rally in London's Trafalgar Square in July that was also posted on his X account.

Robinson, 41, who founded the nationalist and anti-Islamist EDL, is one of the most influential far-right figures in Britain. Thousands of people rallied in support of him on Saturday in central London at a Unite the Kingdom rally that he had planned but wasn't able to attend because he had been jailed.

He has been blamed for stirring up protests that turned into a week of violent disorder across England and Northern Ireland this summer after social media users falsely identified the suspect in a stabbing rampage that killed three young girls in the seaside community of Southport as an immigrant and a Muslim.

Robinson has been jailed in the past for assault, contempt of court and mortgage fraud.

Robinson was banned from Twitter in 2018, but he was allowed back after Elon Musk took over the social network and later renamed it X. He now has 1 million followers.