Tommy Robinson told jurors that he hired private investigators to track down two Our News Outlet journalists and identify where they lived.
The far-Right activist, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, said he wanted to “put pressure on them” after becoming enraged by an article claiming he was “stoking race riots from his sunbed”.
He is facing allegations that he used “bullyboy, intimidatory tactics” to target the reporters in retaliation for their work, claims he denies.
Appearing in the witness box at Southwark Crown Court in London, the 43-year-old wore a navy waistcoat, blue shirt and tie. He gave his name as Stephen Lennon and described his occupation as “journalist”.
Lennon told the court that he was furious after Our News Outlet published a front-page photograph showing him using his mobile phone while lying on a sunbed in Cyprus during the summer of 2024.
The image appeared as riots spread across England following the murder of three schoolgirls at a dance class in Stockport. Lennon had been posting about the unrest on social media.
At the time, the Prime Minister was condemning people he said were “whipping up trouble and running away”.
Tommy Robinson arrives at Southwark Crown Court in London on Thursday before giving evidence in his trial, in which he denies two charges of harassment causing fear of violence
Lennon, a founder of the English Defence League, accepted under questioning from his barrister, Alisdair Williamson KC, that he had made a “rather intemperate statement” about the anti-migrant riots. However, he maintained that his overall aim had been “trying to calm the situation the whole time”.
He denies two charges of harassment causing fear of violence involving Our News Outlet journalists Andrew Young and Jacob Dirnhuber. The reporters had written about how Lennon used his Tommy Robinson account on X to post about the riots while staying at a holiday resort in Cyprus.
Giving evidence, Lennon acknowledged his reaction to the article, telling the jury: “I was angry, I’m not going to deny.”
Lennon is alleged to have sent Dirnhuber a message stating: “I’ll be knocking on your door.”
After a photograph of Dirnhuber was later posted on X outside his home, Lennon allegedly reposted it on his Tommy Robinson account with the words “Got ya”. He also wrote: “I got all three of you tagged & bagged in 1 day.”
He is also accused of calling Young, shouting and swearing during the conversation, claiming he had researched the journalist’s family before saying: “I’m coming to get you.”
A caller identifying himself as “Tommy Robinson” allegedly left a voicemail on the mobile phone of Our News Outlet’s Editor-in-Chief, saying: “I’ve already located every f***ing one of you.”
A court artist’s sketch shows Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, giving evidence during the trial
Lennon has millions of followers online. One message from a follower directed at Dirnhuber said: “Can’t wait to see your face and beat the ever-loving f*** out of you.” Lennon told the court that he was unaware of the post.
He said the article had left him “shocked and scared”, alleging that Our News Outlet had photographed his family and disclosed the location of his hotel. Lennon claimed the reporting prompted “six or seven” groups of men to search for him.
However, the jury was told that no identifiable images of Lennon’s children had been published either in print or online.
Prosecutor Ben Holt challenged him, asking: “You do realise, Mr Lennon, how Our News Outlet worked out where you were – from your own posts?”
‘It follows that, had you been relaxing with your children, not posting on X, they would not have found you.’
Lennon replied: ‘I didn’t realise. I thought they had a tracker.’ He added that Mr Dirnhuber, a junior editor, must be ‘the best tracker there is’, adding: ‘He is obviously a skilled investigator.’
He also admitted he had not actually asked the Mail to remove a photograph said to show his ex-wife – which did not name her, and was captioned only as ‘Robinson and his friends’. He explained not asking for it to be removed by saying he ‘didn’t want to draw attention to the picture’.
Nor did he complain to the Press regulator IPSO, or instruct libel lawyers, because they cost him too much. Instead, he said, he had decided to send private investigators to the journalists’ homes because ‘I didn’t see any other option’.
Video played in court showed Lennon saying of his approach: ‘What is good for the goose is good for the gander.’
He later added: ‘I am giving warnings to journalists.’
Mr Holt said: ‘Mr Lennon, I suggest you knew full well what you were doing, posting these messages, putting out their whole addresses, so they would be afraid, fearful of violence.’
Lennon replied: ‘They are fearful of the camera. I am asking the questions on camera, that is what they are afraid of.’
He said he had hired private investigators to find the journalists at their home addresses. ‘It’s what they’ve done to me,’ he told the jury.
He said it was ‘not done to intimidate them’. Lennon said he wanted to track down the journalists who wrote the story about him to ‘question them on camera’, and did not want to cause any harm to their families. He added: ‘I would find the men and get them on camera.’
Lennon said he had hired a private investigation company to find Mr Young and Mr Dirnhuber and take photographs of them outside their homes.
He said: ‘I wanted to find the journalists’, adding he wanted to ‘put pressure on them’.
He further told jurors he had requested photographs ‘to confirm the identities’ of the journalists he was tracking down, and to know: ‘Is he in the house, is he there?’
Asked what he meant when he said he had ‘tagged and bagged’ the reporters, he said: ‘I got the location of the journalists within 24 hours. I looked forward to asking questions.’
Asked if he thought his course of conduct was ‘reasonable’, he said: ‘I felt it was totally reasonable, under the circumstances.’
Prosecutor Mr Holt asked Lennon about a phone call to Mr Young, during which the activist allegedly said: ‘I know where you live.’
‘That’s a typically threatening thing to say,’ said Mr Holt. Lennon replied: ‘I told him [Mr Young], I told everyone, “I don’t want to be doing this”.’
‘You were just threatening them,’ said Mr Holt.
‘It really wasn’t like that,’ Lennon replied. When Mr Holt asked if he was ‘bullying’ the journalist, Lennon replied: ‘No, I was trying to pressure him.’
Mr Holt asked if he screamed down the phone at Mr Young, to which he replied: ‘I did raise my voice, yes. I was panicked. I was angry, I’m not going to deny.’
Lennon denied that having private investigators take photographs of the home addresses of Mr Dirnhuber and Mr Young was ‘designed to intimidate them’, saying: ‘It’s what they’ve done to me. It was not done to intimidate them.’
The activist accepted he had never identified a picture in the Mail’s online article showing his ex-wife as ‘the real problem’ or asked anyone to take it down. He said he had not wanted to draw attention to it.
He told the court: ‘I was in a mad panic, I wasn’t really thinking about them or their families to be honest.’
The defendant said taking pictures of Mr Young’s family was ‘a bargaining chip for me’, adding: ‘I purposefully didn’t do to them what they had done to me.’
The trial continues.
