Tommy Robinson was dubbed a “bully” by a judge as he lost a bid to overturn a stalking protection order which bans him from invading a journalist’s private life.
The 40-year-old activist turned up at reporter Lizzie Dearden’s home unannounced when he learned she was planning a story accusing him of misusing donations to his campaigns.
Robinson – real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – was heard shouting “f*** you Lizzie” in the late-night incident in January 2021, as he continued to ring the buzzer to the block of flats and shout out her name, Southwark crown court heard.
When she refused to come outside, Robinson made a series of false allegations about the journalist’s partner and threatened to “expose” him online.
A stalking protection order was imposed in October 2021, banning Robinson from contacting the journalist and her partner or talking about them online.
At a two-day appeal, the activist admitted the incident was not his “finest hour”. He also conceded that the allegations about Ms Dearden’s partner – which he shouted in the street and threatened to publish to his online followers - were entirely false.
Judge Gregory Perrins and two magistrates upheld the order, which lasts until October 2026, banning Robinson from contacting Ms Dearden about matters outside her journalistic work.
The judge said the visit to her home and shouted abuse in response to a request for comment on Ms Dearden’s story was not a “legitimate response….nor does it constitute any form of legitimate ‘journalism’ on the part of the appellant.
“It was, in our opinion, a calculated attempt to bully, intimidate and frighten Lizzie Dearden either as an act of revenge for the article she had written or in an attempt to prevent publication of that same article in the national press.”
The court also found that Robinson had effectively "spied" on the journalist by using a private investigator to track down her home address.
He said Robinson’s call to his social media followers for information on Ms Dearden’s partner was a further attempt to “intimidate her further”, and he had come close to blackmail with an email threatening to go public with the false allegations about her partner.
In her evidence, Ms Dearden, who was the Home Affairs editor at The Independent, said the incident left her terrified and the couple “went into hiding” as a result.
She also contemplated leaving her job at the media organisation.
The judge found Robinson had carried out actions associated with stalking, and that he continues to pose a risk to Ms Dearden and her partner due to the “significant grievance” he has.
The judge did agree to modify the court order to allow Robinson to exercise his freedom of speech by commenting publicly on stories written about him by the journalist.
This is includes a planned documentary featuring Robinson speaking about Ms Dearden in a 20-minute segment where he issues a string of rebuttals to the stories she had written.
But the judge said Robinson needs to be "careful" not to incite his followers into stalking the journalist, while the documentary also currently includes “sexual slurs” aimed at the journalist and her partner which he said would breach the stalking protection order if aired.
Robinson attended court for the two-day hearing last week, but was not present as the ruling was handed down on Wednesday.
