Claim: Tommy Robinson was jailed in order to silence his reporting on a sex abuse trial in England, and to "protect Muslim pedophiles.
Verdict: REFUTES

Retrieved passages:
title: Huddersfield grooming gang
text: its perpetrators were Muslims. Tommy Robinson streamed video from outside the court on Facebook during the second of the trials, filmed some of the accused and talked about Muslims and "jihad rape gangs", which led to his arrest and prosecution. He received a 13-month jail sentence for contempt of court in May 2018, but was released in August 2018 after he won his challenge against the ruling in the Court of Appeal. The case has been referred to the attorney general. 20 men were convicted of rape and abuse against 15 girls in October of 2018. The men were convicted

title: Tommy Robinson (activist)
text: calling the defendants "Muslim child rapists" while the jury was deliberating. He received a three month sentence, suspended for 18 months. Judge Heather Norton said Robinson used "pejorative language in his broadcast which prejudged the outcome of the case and could have had the effect of substantially derailing the trial". She added, "this is not about free speech, not about the freedom of the press, nor about legitimate journalism, and not about political correctness. It is about justice and ensuring that a trial can be carried out justly and fairly, it's about being innocent until proven guilty. It is about

title: Tommy Robinson (activist)
text: preserving the integrity of the jury to continue without people being intimidated or being affected by irresponsible and inaccurate 'reporting', if that's what it was". Robinson was jailed and later released in the summer of 2018 for almost collapsing the Huddersfield grooming gang trial. On 25 May 2018, Robinson was arrested for a breach of the peace while live streaming outside Leeds Crown Court during the trial of the Huddersfield grooming gang on which reporting restrictions had been ordered by the judge. Following Robinson's arrest, Judge Geoffrey Marson QC issued a further reporting restriction on Robinson's case, prohibiting any reporting

title: Tommy Robinson (activist)
text: the EDL from 2009 until 8 October 2013. He continued as an activist, and in 2015 became involved with the development of Pegida UK, a British chapter of the German-based Pegida organisation (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West). From 2017 to 2018, Robinson wrote for and appeared in online videos for The Rebel Media, a Canadian far-right political website. In May 2018, Robinson was sentenced to 13 months' imprisonment for contempt of court after publishing a Facebook Live video of defendants entering a law court, contrary to a court order to prevent reporting those trials while proceedings are

title: Tommy Robinson (activist)
text: society in general." Reporting restrictions were lifted on the three Huddersfield grooming gang trials after the jury reached a verdict in the final trial. The Yorkshire Evening Post explained that it abided by the temporary restrictions because "If we had reported on the first trial then jurors may have been swayed in the second trial - a defence lawyer would argue that their clients could not get a fair hearing ... the whole trial could have collapsed ... a judge may have had to rule that they could not get a fair trial and those girls would NEVER have seen

title: Tommy Robinson (activist)
text: of Robinson's case or the grooming trial until the latter case is complete. The reporting restriction with regard to Robinson was lifted on 29 May 2018, following a challenge by journalists. The media reported that Robinson had admitted contempt of court by publishing information that could prejudice an ongoing trial, and had been sentenced to 13 months' imprisonment. Justice Marson sentenced Robinson to ten months for contempt of court and his previous three months' suspended sentence was activated because of the breach. Robinson's lawyer said that Robinson felt "deep regret" after comprehending the potential consequences of his behaviour. Having breached

title: Tommy Robinson (activist)
text: Prison Bedford, saying that he was a "political prisoner of the state", and refused to eat what he believed was halal meat. A handful of EDL supporters protested outside the prison in support of Robinson during his incarceration; the support peaked at a turnout of 100 protesters on 10 September. Robinson was released on bail on 12 September. On 29 September 2011, Robinson was convicted of common assault after headbutting a fellow EDL member at a rally in Blackburn in April that year. He was sentenced to 12 weeks' imprisonment, suspended for 12 months. Robinson said that the assault had

title: Tommy Robinson (activist)
text: in his support. Demonstrators prevented a Muslim woman from driving a bus, performed Nazi salutes, threw scaffolding, glass bottles and street furniture at police and damaged vehicles and buildings. Robinson's supporters sent abusive messages to journalists who were complying with the court order by waiting until after the trial, wrongly lambasting them for "covering up" crime. An online petition for his release had more than 500,000 signatures. Anti-fascist advocacy group "Hope not Hate" said its analysis showed that 68.1% of the signatures were from the UK, with 9.7% from Australia, and 9.3% from the US. Canada, Germany, France, New Zealand,

title: Tommy Robinson (activist)
text: a director of the think tank Demos: "In Woodhill, I experienced Islam the gang. [...] In Winchester, I have experienced Islam the religion." Robinson made friends with several Muslim prisoners, referring to them as "great lads [...] I cannot speak highly enough of the Muslim inmates I'm now living with". In June 2014 Robinson was released on licence. The terms of his early release included having no contact with the EDL until the end of his original sentence in June 2015. He was due to talk to the Oxford Union in October 2014, but was recalled to prison before the

title: Tommy Robinson (activist)
text: he was arrested for contempt of court after he attempted to take video of the defendants in a child rape case outside Canterbury Crown Court. Robinson's second self-published book, " Mohammed's Koran: Why Muslims Kill For Islam" was co-authored with Peter McLoughlin and released in 2017. Robinson was involved in a fist fight at Royal Ascot later in June 2017, for which Piers Morgan criticised him on Twitter. In March 2018, Robinson was permanently banned from the microblogging site Twitter for violating its rules on "hateful conduct". In March 2018, Robinson attended court in support of Mark Meechan, who was

title: Tommy Robinson (activist)
text: he was imprisoned for a similar offence at Leeds Crown Court. However, he was later released following a successful challenge to the court's sentencing procedure. A retrial was requested from the attorney general. Both sentences were for the criminal offence of contempt of court, which can include speeches or publications that create a "substantial risk that the course of justice in the proceedings in question will be seriously impeded or prejudiced". In May 2017, Robinson was convicted of contempt of court for putting a gang-rape trial in danger of collapsing. He filmed inside Canterbury Crown Court and posted prejudicial statements

title: Tommy Robinson (activist)
text: of a "campaign of harassment" and said that they had equated the proscribed terrorist group with all Muslims in their action. In September, a judge at Luton Magistrates' Court dismissed the case, calling the prosecution's evidence "vague" and "cagey". On 27 August 2016, 18 Luton Town football supporters, including Robinson and his family, were ejected by police from a Cambridge pub on the day of the Cambridge United versus Luton football match. Robinson claimed he had been victimised, and complaints were submitted to Cambridge Police. Robinson was a correspondent for The Rebel Media, a Canadian right-wing website. In May 2017,

title: Tommy Robinson (activist)
text: hearing of the case. Robinson was released on bail pending the new hearing. The Court of Appeal agreed to hear Robinson's appeal even though it was launched outside the 28-day time limit for challenging convictions. The court agreed to hear the appeal because Robinson had been held in "effective solitary confinement", which had made it difficult for Robinson to have meetings with his lawyers. Following court hearings on 27 September and 23 October, the case was referred to the attorney general – currently Conservative MP Geoffrey Cox. Judge Nicholas Hilliard said the matter was so complex it needed further consideration,

title: Tommy Robinson (activist)
text: how embarrassing man." Robinson deleted the videos and admitted to posting a fake photograph purporting to show violence by a Muslim gang. He was warned about legal action for defamation. In response to allegations from Robinson's supporters that this warning "blocked" free speech, a lawyer said, "Tommy Robinson thinks it is a good idea to defame this 15-year-old boy and accuse him of being the author of his own bullying. It is actually sickening." These events forced the refugee's family to relocate because "the level of abuse the children have received has become too much". The family decided to move

title: Tommy Robinson (activist)
text: for three months suspended for 18 months. The Court of Appeal ordered the court records be amended to reflect the correct sentence. The distinction between sentenced to imprisonment and committed to prison for contempt affects the way the sentenced person is managed. Robinson was born Stephen Christopher Yaxley in Luton, England. In an interview with Victoria Derbyshire on BBC Radio Five live in 2010, he said that his parents "were Irish immigrants to this country". His mother, who worked at a local bakery, remarried when Robinson was still young; his stepfather, Thomas Lennon, worked at the Vauxhall car plant in

title: Catholic Church sexual abuse cases in Europe
text: abuse was the hand of God touching him, for example. One young victim was driven to a suicide attempt. Walsh had a previous conviction for computer indecency. James Robinson worked in parishes in the English Midlands and when an accusation of child abuse happened in the 1980s, the Roman Catholic Church allowed him to escape to the United States though they knew about an "unwholesome relationship" the priest had with a boy. Robinson remained free for over 20 years till in the first decade of the 21st century he was extradited back to the UK to face charges. Robinson has

title: Tommy Robinson (activist)
text: also propagated by the InfoWars writer Paul Joseph Watson. The former Breitbart editor Raheem Kassam tweeted it to his followers while falsely accusing the Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, of moving Robinson there. On 2 August 2018, Robinson was interviewed on "Tucker Carlson Tonight". During the interview, Robinson mainly discussed his prior two months in prison. He said that he was initially put in HM Prison Hull, where he was treated well; he was then transferred to HM Prison Onley, where, he claimed, he was severely mistreated, including with solitary confinement. The prison service rejected his claims saying "Mr Yaxley-Lennon was

title: Tommy Robinson (activist)
text: treated with the same fairness we aim to show all prisoners – he had access to visits, television and showers – and it is totally false to say he was held in 'solitary confinement'", adding that he had been kept in a care and separation unit for 48 hours whilst an assessment was made of his safety. In October 2018, further controversy arose after Robinson posted a joint photo with two dozen young British Army "recruits" as he described them. He also posted on his Facebook page a video of the occasion in which the soldiers allegedly cheered him shouting

title: Tommy Robinson (activist)
text: noted for including football hooligans and members who described themselves as anti-Muslim. Robinson founded the European Defence League, a co-ordination of groups similar to the EDL operating in different European countries. Robinson said he was assaulted on 22 December 2011 after stopping his car due to another car flashing its lights at him. He said that a group of three men attacked and beat him, until they were stopped by the arrival of a "good Samaritan". Robinson said that the attackers were of Asian appearance. Robinson was convicted in 2011 of using "threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour" during a fight

title: Tommy Robinson (activist)
text: adding "all the evidence must be rigorously tested". The referral would allow witnesses to be cross-examined. On 5 November, Robinson was released from bail, meaning "there are no bail conditions". The jailing of Robinson drew condemnation from right-wing circles. The UK Independence Party leader Gerard Batten MEP expressed concern about the proceedings and the ban on reporting. Robinson attracted sympathy from several right-wing politicians in Europe, including the Dutch Party for Freedom leader Geert Wilders and the member of the German Bundestag for the far-right Alternative for Germany Petr Bystron. On the weekends following Robinson's arrest, his supporters held rallies