LONDON (Reuters) -British anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson was cleared on Tuesday of committing an offence under counterterrorism laws by refusing to give police his phone PIN, thanking billionaire Elon Musk who he said funded his defence.
Robinson, 42, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, has become a flag-bearer for some British nationalists and one of Britain’s most high-profile anti-migration campaigners.
He was stopped by police in July 2024 as he drove through border security at the Channel Tunnel train terminal in southeast England.
Prosecutors told London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court at a trial last month an officer had become suspicious because of his demeanour, he was driving a high-value vehicle, a friend’s silver Bentley, and was heading to Benidorm in southern Spain having only bought a ticket on the day.
He and colleagues seized Robinson’s phone and asked him to provide the passcode to unlock it. But he refused, saying he was a journalist and it contained privileged material.
Giving his verdict on Tuesday, Judge Sam Goozee said it appeared the police had detained Robinson because of his political views and so the decision to stop him was unlawful.
“First of all, thank you, Elon Musk … why has it taken an American businessman to fight for our justice here and our fight against terrorism charges for journalists?” Robinson said outside court.
Musk often reposts his messages on X and appeared by videolink at a recent rally in London attended by about 150,000 people that Robinson organised. Before his trial, he said Musk had paid for his defence.
Robinson says he was targeted by the state for exposing wrongdoing, but is denounced by critics as a far-right rabble-rouser with a string of criminal convictions.
“I’m so glad that judge has given such a powerful judgment now that says it how it was – I was targeted because of my political beliefs,” he said. “On behalf of the government, counterterrorism (police) targeted me to try and get access to my phone as a journalist.”
(Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Alex Richardson)
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