Political activist Tommy Robinson has told a jury that journalists know “I’m not coming to beat them up” when quizzed about allegedly harassing them.
The 43-year-old, who gave his full name to the court as “Stephen Lennon”, wept in the witness box on Thursday when asked how the relationship with his children had been affected by his status as a notable public figure.
Robinson said he “didn’t expect” Daily Mail editor Jacob Dirnhuber and freelance journalist Andrew Young to fear violence from a series of social media posts and messages in August 2024, saying he believed they would instead be fearful of him “coming with a camera” and questioning them about their work.
The court heard the activist hired private investigators to take photographs of the home addresses of Mr Dirnhuber and Mr Young, saying: “I wanted to find the journalists,” in order to “put pressure on them”.
He denied the investigators were “designed to intimidate them”, adding: “That was not my intention at all, my intention was to remove the fear and remove the immediate danger to my family.”
He told the court he was “not going to argue” with the witness statements of the two journalists when they said they feared violence from Robinson and his supporters, but added: “I’m just saying, under the circumstances I had no other options.”
Robinson told the jury at Southwark Crown Court he was “unfortunately in a situation where I was panicked” as he posted images of the journalists’ homes on X in August 2024.
He said he would “not endanger any innocent family” and that he was “panicked and terrified” after the Daily Mail, and its sister publication the MailOnline, published a story about him while he was on a family holiday.
He said he wanted to track down the journalists who wrote the MailOnline story about him to “question them on camera” but did not want to cause any harm to their families.
Denying he was causing the journalists to fear violence under cross-examination from prosecutor Ben Holt, Robinson told the court: “I don’t think I’m being threatening, I’m giving warnings to journalists, I’m just saying do your job.
Court artist sketch of Tommy Robinson giving evidence at Southwark Crown Court (Elizabeth Cook/PA)
PA Wire
“I’m not coming to beat (them) up. They know that.”
Robinson also said he believed he was “restrained” in a voicemail he left for Daily Mail editor-in-chief Ted Verity when he said he would make him and his family famous.
He said he told the journalists he would get their addresses because he was “using it as a play card”.
Mr Holt responded: “The play card you are using is putting them in fear, isn’t it?”
Robinson rejected Mr Holt’s claim, saying of the Daily Mail’s actions: “It’s not justifiable what they have done.”
The defendant struggled to answer a question about his relationship with his children as he took tissues from a nearby tissue box and wiped tears from his eyes.
Robinson said his world was “collapsing” at the time the article was published because they had taken a photograph of his ex-wife.
Tommy Robinson arriving at Southwark Crown Court (PA)
PA Wire
The defendant told the court he thought it was “totally reasonable… under the circumstances” to post a picture of Mr Dirnhuber outside his home on X, saying he wanted to “put pressure on him”.
Under cross-examination from Mr Holt, he was asked if there was “any need at all” to post pictures of the Daily Mail journalists’ home address on X.
He replied: “As I said at the time, I was desperate and I didn’t publish their addresses or their images.
“It was an attempt to bring the Daily Mail to the table.”
The court previously heard Robinson used “bully-boy, intimidatory tactics” to frighten the journalists with a series of posts and direct messages on social media platform X.
The defendant, who founded the English Defence League, entered not guilty pleas in July last year to two charges of harassment causing fear of violence.
The trial continues.