Robinson shared photos of reporter's family, court told

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Cite

Godfrey-Evans, H. (2026, October 20). Robinson shared photos of reporter's family, court told. BBC News. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cmx2q5dw5p90o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss

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

BBC News · collected 2026-10-20 · by Henry Godfrey-Evans

Quick Summary

Tommy Robinson, a political activist from Bedfordshire, is on trial at Southwark Crown Court for harassing journalists Andrew Young and Jacob Dirnhuber by sharing photos of their families online and making threatening remarks. The court heard that after articles about him were published in July 2024, Robinson posted images of Young’s wife and child to his social media followers, leading to fear among the journalist's family members who believed they were being stalked. Prosecutor Ben Holt described Robinson's actions as "bully-boy tactics" aimed at intimidating journalists covering far-right agitation online following a series of murders in Southport that year.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-20, 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, is facing a five-day trial at Southwark Crown Court on charges of harassment causing fear of violence against two MailOnline journalists, Andrew Young and Jacob Dirnhuber. Robinson denies the charges.

The prosecution alleges that after articles were published about his holiday in Cyprus following the Southport murders in July 2024, Robinson used "bully-boy tactics" to intimidate the journalists. This includes sharing photos of one journalist's family on social media and threatening to visit their homes. In a telephone call, Robinson allegedly told Young, "I’m coming to get you," causing fear for both reporters' safety.

The court heard that after his address was leaked online by an anonymous X account supporter of Robinson, Young received menacing calls from someone claiming to be the activist. Additionally, unknown individuals appeared outside Young's home and that of another journalist working with him, further escalating the perceived threat.

Journalists testified about their fears and concerns for themselves and their families as a result of these incidents. Jacob Dirnhuber stated in his testimony: "It made me scared to go out in public, it made me scared to go to my own house, it made me feel guilty about how it had affected my loved ones." The trial focuses on Robinson's reaction to the articles and his alleged use of intimidation tactics against the reporters. Robinson denies all charges.

Written for “Tommy Robinson Trial For Harassment” on 2026-10-20, grounded in this article and the 8 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.35, but none of the 2 quote(s) it offered could be found in the article text, 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 93699: no verified evidence · logged 2026-10-20

Story

📰 Tommy Robinson Trial For Harassment
Politics · 9 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Evening Standard · 0.86 cosine similarity
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 15% hedged 3 of 20 📰 publisher trust 66
“Both articles describe Tommy Robinson's harassment and threats against journalists Andrew Young and Jacob Dirnhuber, with identical details such as the timeframe (August 2024) and the court case at Southwark Crown Court.”
Evening Standard
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 11% hedged 4 of 37 📰 publisher trust 66
“Both articles describe Tommy Robinson's harassment charges and social media activities against MailOnline reporters Andrew Young and Jacob Dirnhuber, specifically mentioning threats and sharing of family photos during a period from August 5 to July last year.”
Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 14% hedged 6 of 44 📰 publisher trust 64
“Both articles describe Tommy Robinson's harassment of Daily Mail journalists Andrew Young and Jacob Dirnhuber in court proceedings, with similar details about threatening tactics and charges.”
Evening Standard
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 50% hedged 3 of 6 📰 publisher trust 66
“Article A discusses the judge's instructions to jurors ahead of the trial, while Article B details evidence presented in court about Robinson sharing photos and threatening a reporter. These are different stages or aspects of the same case but not the exact same event.”
Evening Standard
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 25% hedged 1 of 4 📰 publisher trust 66
“The articles describe different phases or aspects of an ongoing legal case, rather than the exact same incident.”
Evening Standard
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 17% hedged 1 of 6 📰 publisher trust 66
“Article A describes Tommy Robinson's arrival at court for his trial, while Article B reports on evidence presented during the trial regarding his online activities.”
The Guardian
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 23% hedged 5 of 22 📰 publisher trust 66
“While both articles describe different aspects of Tommy Robinson's harassment trial, they report on distinct incidents and details, not the exact same occurrence.”
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 20% hedged 4 of 20 📰 publisher trust 66
“The events described are similar but not identical, as Article A reports threats over a phone call and Article B describes sharing photos online.”
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
0%
0 of 20 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
69/100
BBC News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
9
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-20 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

BBC News · 3838 article(s) · 5 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 5 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Henry Godfrey-Evans
3 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 I feel I will be looking over my shoulder for a long time."
2026-10-20 · assertive framing · Robinson shared photos of reporter's family, court told
🔮 "I just thought it would be quite nice to basically post a letter for the future and I'm obviously quite delighted to see that someone had found it," she said.
2026-09-27 · assertive framing · Child's hidden letter found after 44 years
🔮 - Published A hike in parking costs at several hospitals will cause "additional stress" for pregnant patients, an antenatal expert said.
2026-07-31 · assertive framing · Hospital parking hike adds stress, patients say
Also by Henry Godfrey-Evans
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

Topics

Bedfordshire Cyprus Southport Southwark Crown Court the Daily Mail

Subjects

Robinson PERSON · 9× Young PERSON · 6× Dirnhuber PERSON · 3× Holt PERSON · 2× Southport GPE · 2× Tommy Robinson PERSON · 2× Andrew Young PERSON · 1× Bedfordshire GPE · 1× Jacob Dirnhuber PERSON · 1× Stephen Yaxley-Lennon PERSON · 1×

Narrative

In a statement read to the court on Tuesday, Dirnhuber said: "It made me scared to go out in public, it made me scared to go to my own house, it made me feel guilty about how it had affected my loved ones. "Even now, when I step out my front door, I'm aware I'm at risk of a vigilante attack. "
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-20
🔮 I feel I will be looking over my shoulder for a long time."
2026-10-20 · BBC News
Robinson shared photos of reporter's family, court told · assertive framing

Claims (20 extracted, 0 hedged)

- Published Political activist Tommy Robinson shared pictures of a journalist's family online and threatened to visit his home, a court has heard. asserted
court → publish → home
In July last year, the 43-year-old from Bedfordshire, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, pleaded not guilty to two counts of harassment causing fear of violence towards reporters Andrew Young and Jacob Dirnhuber. asserted
name → plead → Young
After three young girls were murdered in Southport in July 2024, Robinson posted on social media, which alerted the Daily Mail to the fact he was on holiday in Cyprus. asserted
he → murder → Cyprus
The paper published articles of him "on a sunbed". asserted
paper → publish → sunbed
Southwark Crown Court heard that photos of Young's wife and child were later shared to Robinson's social media followers. asserted
photos → hear → followers
Prosecutor Ben Holt said the trial was about Robinson's reaction to the articles, and accused him of using "bully-boy tactics" to "intimidate" the journalists. asserted
trial → say → journalists
In his statement read to the court, Young said someone who appeared to be a Robinson supporter leaked his home address on X. asserted
who → read → address
Later, a man who introduced himself as Robinson called him and became "increasingly menacing, swearing and shouting". asserted
who → introduce → him
Young added: "I believe he said the words 'I'm coming to get you'." asserted
I → add → you
The court heard that Young's family told him on 6 August about a grey Audi that had been parked outside earlier that day, with a man sitting inside. asserted
man → hear → Audi
Young said: "It was clear to me that Tommy Robinson was following through on his threats." In the days following the publication of the article, the court heard that two men in a car shouted at Young's daughter, and she believed they photographed her. asserted
they → say → her
He said Robinson's actions caused his family an "undue amount of stress". asserted
actions → say → stress
'Scared' Holt told the court that Dirnhuber, the other alleged victim, was scared to be in public after Robinson's alleged harassment. asserted
Dirnhuber → tell → harassment
The journalist's witness statement told of the unrest in the days following the Southport attack in 2024. asserted
statement → tell → 2024
He claimed there was public interest in covering the "far-right agitation" online from figures such as Robinson that had led to riots across the country. asserted
that → claim → country
Holt said that in August that year, Dirnhuber received a number of messages from Robinson and that eventually the journalist had to move house. asserted
journalist → say → house
In a statement read to the court on Tuesday, Dirnhuber said: "It made me scared to go out in public, it made me scared to go to my own house, it made me feel guilty about how it had affected my loved ones. "Even now, when I step out my front door, I'm aware I'm at risk of a vigilante attack. " asserted
I → read → attack
I feel vulnerable. asserted
I → feel → ?
I feel I will be looking over my shoulder for a long time." asserted
I → feel → time
The case continues. Do you have a story suggestion for Beds, Herts or Bucks? asserted
you → continue → Beds
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