English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson arriving at Westminster Magistrates’ Court (PA)
(Picture: PA Wire)Tommy Robinson is being pursued by creditors to the tune of £2million after he was ordered to compensate a Syrian schoolboy he wrongly accused of attacking a girl.
The English Defence League founder lost a libel case brought against him by the boy and now campaigners are accusing him of “hiding millions” to avoid paying.
The far right activist, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was sued by Jamal Hijazi after he posted two videos containing false slurs on Facebook in November 2018.
Robinson made false allegations that Jamal “not innocent” and the teenage refugee “violently attacks young English girls in his school”.
Mr Robinson also wrongly claimed Jamal “beat a girl black and blue” and “threatened to stab” another boy at his school.
Jamal was forced to deny the claims at the High Court, saying the slurs had a “devastating effect” on the lives and him and his family who had come to the UK as refugees from Homs, Syria.
Robinson was ordered to pay Jamal £100,000 in libel damages but declared bankruptcy in March.
He also owes an estimated £1.5m in legal costs for the boy’s lawyers. Other creditors include HMRC, a former business partner and Barrow-In-Furness Borough Council.
Anti-fascist campaign group Hope Not Hate claim Robinson has access to £3million in assets earned through property, investments, donations and book sales.
The group claim a Bedfordshire mansion is worth £1.2million and is owned by Mr Robinson’s ex-wife but Robinson is often seen at the property chatting to builders sometimes alone according to campaigners.
Hope Not Hate have launched a crowdfunder to pay an independent insolvency expert to assess whether Mr Robinson bankruptcy claim was genuine.
The expert has a deadline of March and will have the power to look at Robinson’s bank records, to interview people under oath and apply for search warrants if necessary.
Nick Lowles, CEO of Hope Not Hate, said, “Jamal Hijazi is a victim of Tommy Robinson’s vitriol, and it is important that Robinson is held to account.
“We cannot stand aside and let this hateful far right extremist defraud an innocent victim out of a life-changing sum of money and walk away free to continue to spread his vile ideology with the help of the millions of pounds he claims not to have.
“It is wholly unjust that while his victim’s life has been turned upside down, Tommy Robinson carries on his life as before.
“Tommy Robinson has to understand that there are real consequences to his hate. It is time to make him pay up and ensure that his victims get proper justice.”
