Tommy Robinson just got convicted of harassing journalists and faces years in prison
29 October 2026 · 29 October 2026Share
Tommy Robinson at Speakers' Corner. File photo. Shayan Barjesteh van Waalwijk van Doorn · CC BY-SA 4.0
Tommy Robinson has just been found guilty of harassing two journalists.
It happened after they covered him after the Southport murders.
A jury at Southwark Crown Court reached the verdict a day ago.
Tommy Robinson's real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon. He is 43.
Two counts of harassment causing fear of violence. Guilty on both.
The jury split 10 to 2 on each count. They took 11 hours and 25 minutes to get there.
So who did he target? Andrew Young, a freelance reporter. And Jacob Dirnhuber, an editor at the Daily Mail.
The Daily Mail's editor-in-chief, Ted Verity, was targeted too. So was Daily Mail correspondent George Odling.
Now here's how it started.
Go back to the summer of 2024. The Daily Mail ran a story. It accused Tommy Robinson of stoking the riots that followed the murders of three girls in Southport. He was on holiday in Cyprus at the time.
Tommy Robinson hit back. He posted criticism of Andrew Young and Jacob Dirnhuber on his X account.
And then it went further.
Prosecutors say Tommy Robinson hired private investigators. Their job? Find the home addresses of Andrew Young, Jacob Dirnhuber and Ted Verity.
Cropped photographs of Andrew Young's wife and children went up on Tommy Robinson's X account. So did a photograph of Jacob Dirnhuber outside his own home.
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Lord Street, Southport. File photo.Jeff Buck · CC BY-SA 2.0
On a phone call on 5 August 2024, Tommy Robinson told Andrew Young says quote "I'm coming to get you".
Prosecutors called Tommy Robinson a bully. They say his tactics left the journalists fearing a vigilante attack.
So what did that fear actually cost them?
The Daily Mail gave Andrew Young a close protection officer. Jacob Dirnhuber moved house. George Odling left his own family home, worried about the publicity around his colleagues.
Tommy Robinson told the court he only meant to pressure the journalists and the Daily Mail. He wanted a photograph of his ex-wife taken down. He said the paper had put his family in danger. He wept in the witness box talking about his children.
The jury did not buy it.
A Met Police statement says that Robinson's threatening posts almost certainly led his followers to target and intimidate the journalists, leaving them fearing for their own safety and their families' safety too.
Frank Ferguson leads the Crown Prosecution Service's Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division. He says Tommy Robinson weaponised social media.
The Daily Mail welcomed the verdict. It called Tommy Robinson's behaviour reprehensible and says it stands by its journalists.
Tommy Robinson has been granted bail. He's due back in court for sentencing on 16 December.
Harassment causing fear of violence carries a maximum of 10 years in prison. That rises to 14 years if the offence is found to be racially or religiously aggravated.
Before the trial, Tommy Robinson thanked Elon Musk on X for funding his legal fees. After the verdict, he called it insane.
What happens on 16 December is not known yet. Neither is whether Tommy Robinson will appeal.
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