Court told Robinson threatened to make Daily Mail journalists' families 'famous'

The harassment trial of far-right activist Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, heard on Tuesday at Southwark crown court in London that he left a threatening voicemail for the Daily Mail's editor, Ted Verity. Robinson is accused of harassing journalists from the newspaper in 2024, and the trial is now in its second day.

The case

Robinson, 43, faces two counts of harassment causing fear of violence, relating to two Mail journalists, Andrew Young and Jacob Dirnhuber. He denies the charges.

Jurors were played a message left on Verity's phone in August 2024. In it, Robinson said he had located everyone at the paper and would make them and their families 'famous', because that was what the paper had done to him. He also said he was not threatening violence.

Witness evidence

In a statement read to the court, Young said an anonymous X account published his address and unknown men began appearing outside his home. He feared Robinson's 800,000 followers on X at the time might seek revenge. Young's daughter said that after pictures of her mother and sister with their faces cropped out were posted, the family felt very worried about their safety. She also described seeing a man in a parked vehicle who appeared to be photographing her.

Dirnhuber and his partner had to leave their home after Robinson shared images of the journalist online, the court heard. He said he expected to be 'looking over my shoulder for a long time'. Messages from anonymous accounts and apparent followers were also read out, including an email telling Dirnhuber he would 'regret when you are in hospital'.

Background

Prosecutor Ben Holt told the court on Monday that the case concerned Robinson's reaction to what he saw as an unnecessary intrusion into his holiday. The journalists had tracked Robinson to Cyprus and the Mail published a story headlined 'Stoking race riots from his sunbed'. The Mail's view was that Robinson was working there, since posting on X was part of how he made money. The trial continues.