LONDON: One of the UK’s most prominent far-right, anti-Islam activists will be quizzed by courts after failing to pay legal bills for a libel case he lost against a Syrian refugee.
Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was sued by Jamal Hijazi for defaming him online.
In response to footage widely circulated online of Hijazi being bullied, Yaxley-Lennon, 39, released a video claiming the 16-year-old boy had attacked “young English girls.”
He failed to prove those claims were true, and was ordered to pay ?100,000 ($135,604.50) in compensation to Hijazi and legal costs understood to amount to around ?500,000.
At a later hearing in March 2021, however, Yaxley-Lennon claimed he was bankrupt and thus unable to make those payments.
But now, the English Defence League founder has been called in front of a judge to answer questions about his finances.
Hijazi’s barrister argued that Yaxley-Lennon, who did not attend the hearing, could be cross-examined about his finances over the debt, despite the ongoing bankruptcy process.
In written arguments, he stated: “The claimant envisages that counsel’s opportunity to cross-examine the defendant under oath, accompanied by documents provided by the defendant, will provide for a more detailed analysis of his assets than might be possible through the normal bankruptcy process.”
He said Yaxley-Lennon, who has long campaigned against the presence of Muslims in Britain, owes a “substantial sum” to Hijazi, and intends to question him “with a view to establishing what steps would be most proportionate to take with a view to maximizing recovery.”
Hijazi’s lawyers, he said, had information “that what is stated in his bankruptcy application is not a full account of (Yaxley-Lennon’s) assets.”
The High Court hearing about his finances is due to take place on March 22.