Tommy Robinson Ordered To Pay £100,000 After Losing Libel Case

Tommy Robinson has lost a libel case brought against him by a Syrian schoolboy who was filmed being attacked at school.

The English Defence League founder - whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon - was sued by Jamal Hijazi, who was assaulted in the playground at Almondbury Community School in Huddersfield in October 2018.

After a video of the assault went viral on social media, Robinson released two Facebook videos in which he alleged that Hijazi was 'not innocent and he violently attacks young English girls in his school'.

A hearing will follow Thursday's judgment to consider the consequences of the ruling.

In the videos, which were viewed by around one million people, Yaxley-Lennon also alleged that Hijazi 'beat a girl black and blue', and 'threatened to stab' another male student at the school.

The teenager denied those allegations.

In his defence, Robinson said: "I only reported what I was told."

During the trial in April, the lawyers acting for Hijazi said that the allegations made against him had a 'devastating effect' on the Syrian refugee and his family.

Catrin Evans QC said that Yaxley-Lennon is a 'well known extreme right advocate' and accused him of using social media to disseminate his anti-Muslim and extremist agenda.

Robinson argued - presenting his own defence due to claims he could not afford legal representation - that he is an independent journalist.

He said: "The media simply had zero interest in the other side of this story, the uncomfortable truth.

"I only reported what I was told. That is all I'm doing here in this court, looking for the truth."