Tommy Robinson used ‘bully-boy tactics’ to frighten journalists, court told

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Cite

Press Association Reporters. (2026, October 19). Tommy Robinson used ‘bully-boy tactics’ to frighten journalists, court told. Evening Standard. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/tommy-robinson-andrew-young-southwark-crown-court-mailonline-elon-musk-b1301454.html

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

Evening Standard · collected 2026-10-19 · by Press Association Reporters

Quick Summary

At Southwark Crown Court, prosecutor Ben Holt told jurors that Tommy Robinson, 43, is charged with harassing MailOnline reporters Andrew Young and Jacob Dirnhuber through social media posts between August 5 and 7, 2024. The prosecution claims Robinson used threatening tactics to intimidate the journalists after an article about his holiday in Cyprus was published, leading some of them to fear for their safety and leave their homes. Robinson pleads not guilty and argues that his actions were necessary to protect his family from perceived threats by the media.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-19, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, arrived at Southwark Crown Court on October 19, 2026, for the start of his five-day trial. He faces two counts of harassment causing fear of violence against MailOnline reporters Andrew Young and Jacob Dirnhuber through posts and direct messages on X (formerly Twitter) between August 5 and 7, 2024. Robinson is also accused of making a threatening phone call to Mr. Young on August 5, saying he would visit his house and stating, "I’m coming to get you." The prosecution claims that after MailOnline published an article about him during the Southport murders in July 2024, Robinson used "bully-boy tactics" to intimidate the journalists, including sending threatening messages and arranging for individuals to go to their addresses. Judge Mr Justice Cavanagh instructed jurors to put aside any views they might have of Robinson or his activities before selecting them for the trial.

Written for “Tommy Robinson Trial For Harassment” on 2026-10-19, grounded in this article and the 6 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.35, but every quote it verified points right, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 90670: score contradicts its own evidence · logged 2026-10-19

Story

📰 Tommy Robinson Trial For Harassment
Politics · 7 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 15% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Evening Standard · 0.96 cosine similarity
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 11% hedged 4 of 37 📰 publisher trust 66
“Both articles describe the same court proceedings involving Tommy Robinson's harassment charges against MailOnline reporters, with identical details including dates and prosecutor statements.”
Evening Standard · 0.91 cosine similarity
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 25% hedged 1 of 4 📰 publisher trust 66
“Both articles describe Tommy Robinson's harassment trial on the same date with identical details about the charges and events leading up to the trial.”
Evening Standard · 0.87 cosine similarity
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 17% hedged 1 of 6 📰 publisher trust 66
“Both articles describe Tommy Robinson's arrival and start of his trial on the same date at Southwark Crown Court for harassment charges against two journalists.”
Evening Standard
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 50% hedged 3 of 6 📰 publisher trust 66
“Both articles discuss the same trial of Tommy Robinson (Stephen Yaxley-Lennon) for harassment charges against MailOnline reporters on August 5-7, 2024.”
The Guardian · 0.95 cosine similarity
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 23% hedged 5 of 22 📰 publisher trust 66
“Both articles describe Tommy Robinson's harassment trial at Southwark Crown Court, involving the same journalists and charges for the same period in August 2024.”
Daily Mail · 0.91 cosine similarity
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 14% hedged 6 of 44 📰 publisher trust 64
“Both articles describe Tommy Robinson's court case on charges of harassment against MailOnline journalists Andrew Young and Jacob Dirnhuber, with similar details about the alleged threats and the proceedings.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
20
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
15%
3 of 20 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
66/100
Evening Standard's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
7
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-19 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Evening Standard · 5943 article(s) · 50 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 50 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Press Association Reporters
37 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 The jury panel were told to “put aside” any views they might have about the activist as they were sworn in.
🔮 The jury panel were told to “put aside” any views they might have about the activist as they were sworn in.
🔮 Ahead of the jury being selected, Mr Justice Cavanagh said the fact that people may have heard of the defendant was not a reason as to why they could not sit on the jury.
🔮 Read More He is accused of harassment causing fear of violence through X posts and direct messages, and an alleged telephone call on August 5 2024, in which he is accused of telling Mr Young he would visit his house, saying: “I’m coming to get you.”
🔮 The family of William Chapman, who was killed by a tiger at a wildlife park, have said “deeply offensive media content is causing them severe distress” after US President Donald Trump reposted a widely shared video of the incident.
🔮 The family of William Chapman, who was killed by a tiger at a wildlife park, have said “deeply offensive media content is causing them severe distress” after US President Donald Trump reposted a widely shared video of the incident.
🔮 Shouts of “scumbags”, directed at the pro-Palestine protesters, could be heard, while they chanted: “Terrorist supporters off our streets.” A separate pro-Palestine rally took place at Queen Mary University in east London.
🔮 Shouts of “scumbags”, directed at the pro-Palestine protesters, could be heard, while they chanted: “Terrorist supporters off our streets.”
🔮 Online posts advertising the protest in Dover carry the name English Defence League and the Patriot Platform affiliate Kent Patriots posted on Instagram stating their members would not attend.
🔮 Read More He is accused of harassment causing fear of violence through X posts and direct messages, as well as an alleged telephone call on August 5 2024, in which he is accused of telling Mr Young he would visit his house, saying: “I’m coming to get you”.
Wire or desk byline, not an individual reporter.
Also by Press Association Reporters
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 37 articles by Press Association Reporters →

Topics

Cyprus MailOnline Southport Southwark Crown Court the Daily Mail

Subjects

Robinson PERSON · 6× Holt PERSON · 5× Cyprus GPE · 2× Andrew Young PERSON · 1× Ben Holt PERSON · 1× Jacob Dirnhuber PERSON · 1× MailOnline ORG · 1× Southport GPE · 1× Southwark Crown Court ORG · 1× Stephen Yaxley-Lennon PERSON · 1×

Narrative

He is accused of harassment causing fear of violence through X posts and direct messages, and an alleged telephone call on August 5 2024, in which he is accused of telling Mr Young he would visit his house, saying: “I’m coming to get you.”
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-19
🔮 The jury panel were told to “put aside” any views they might have about the activist as they were sworn in.
2026-10-19 · Evening Standard
Tommy Robinson used ‘bully-boy tactics’ to frighten journalists, court told · assertive framing

Claims (20 extracted, 3 hedged)

Robinson, 43, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is charged with two counts of harassment causing fear of violence to MailOnline reporters Andrew Young and Jacob Dirnhuber through his X account between August 5 and 7 2024. asserted
name → charge → August
Opening the case at Southwark Crown Court on Monday, prosecutor Ben Holt told jurors the defendant “threatened” the journalists after what he perceived to be “an unnecessary intrusion into his holiday”. asserted
he → open → holiday
The jury panel were told to “put aside” any views they might have about the activist as they were sworn in. uncertain
they → tell → activist
The court heard Robinson had left the UK for Cyprus the day before three children were murdered in Southport in July 2024. asserted
children → hear → July
Mr Holt said he made a number of social media posts following the attack as unrest unfolded across the country. asserted
unrest → say → country
Jurors heard investigative journalist Mr Young was sent to Cyprus with a photographer to cover the story about “where Mr Lennon was and what he was doing”. asserted
he → hear → what
“An article was published about him and his whereabouts, both in print and online,” Mr Holt said. asserted
Holt → publish → print
Detailing what the prosecution say Robinson’s reaction was, Mr Holt said: “What he did, we say, was to intimidate those journalists. asserted
we → detail → journalists
“He chose to frighten them, arrange for individuals to go to their addresses. “On social media, to millions of followers, he circulated images of their homes. asserted
he → choose → homes
“His supporters got involved, threatening the journalists. asserted
supporters → involve → journalists
“Understandably, you might agree, they were scared, in some circumstances, being forced to leave their homes.” uncertain
they → agree → homes
Mr Holt said Robinson’s case is that his family had been put in danger by the actions of the Daily Mail. asserted
family → say → Mail
He told jurors: “A phrase we will hear a few times in this case, ‘what is good for the goose is good for the gander’. “He acted as he did to protect his family, as such, he says his conduct was reasonable.” asserted
conduct → tell → family
Addressing what the prosecution’s case is, Mr Holt said: “The prosecution say this defendant – using bully-boy, intimidatory tactics – threatened the journalists. “ asserted
defendant → address → journalists
He sent photographers to their home addresses. asserted
He → send → addresses
“He put pictures, albeit redacted, of them out on his timeline on X for the enjoyment and appreciation of his followers.” asserted
He → put → followers
Robinson, who founded the English Defence League, entered not guilty pleas to the charges in July last year. asserted
who → found → year
He is accused of harassment causing fear of violence through X posts and direct messages, and an alleged telephone call on August 5 2024, in which he is accused of telling Mr Young he would visit his house, saying: “I’m coming to get you.” asserted
I → accuse → you
One of the direct messages Robinson is accused of sending Mr Dirnhuber on X on the same day allegedly said: “I’ll be knocking at your door.” uncertain
I → accuse → door
The trial, expected to last five days, continues. asserted
trial → expect → ?
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