English Defence League Founder Gambled Away £100,000 While Taking Supporter Money
In a deep hole
The English Defence League (EDL) founder has revealed in court that he gambled away £100,000 ($123,824) at the identical time as accepting donations from supporters. Tommy Robinson, whose true name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, appeared in the Royal Courts of Justice in London on Thursday in order to provide evidence on his monetary predicament following his loss in a libel case.
has to spend damages worth £100,000
Following a court identified him guilty of defaming a Syrian teenager on the web, the 39-year-old has to pay damages worth £100,000 ($123,824). Jamal Hijazi was the victim of an assault at a college in Huddersfield back in October 2018. A video of the incident ended up going viral, with Robinson creating false claims on social media about the teenager.
A judge ordered Yaxley-Lennon to pay £43,293 ($53,607) in legal costs at the pre-trial hearing. Even so, because he has not but forked up this cash, the EDL founder need to go by means of one more court hearing to go over his finances.
Dire monetary straits
In court, the far-proper activist outlined how he declared bankruptcy in March 2021, owing hundreds of thousands of pounds. Prior to this point, he stated he spent around £100,000 ($123,824) in a two-year period gambling on-line and at land-primarily based casinos. In spite of accepting substantial sums of income through donations from supporters, he admitted to spending a lot of funds on drinking and partying.
owes a six-figure sum to Her Majesty’s Income and Customs
In 2020, Robinson regularly received about £1,000 ($1,238) every month from his supporters, with the sum sometimes rising as higher as £4,000 ($four,953). A single of the bankruptcy type claims stated that Robinson owed £323,000 ($399,950) to a Bedfordshire businessman. The pair’s partnership had turned for the worst and Robinson was unable to spend back his borrowings. He also owes a six-figure sum to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.
A controversial figure
Robinson is no longer living in the UK and only returns if there is a perform opportunity.
As reported by the BBC, court officials questioned him concerning claims in his book from 2009 in which he stated that he owned seven properties, six of them getting in the name of his wife. In response, Robinson confessed that he had lied about the properties, concluding:
I like to give off that I am a effective man when I am not.”
Robinson started the EDL in 2009. It has since been labeled an Islamophobic far-right group, holding several street demonstrations more than the years across the nation. Robinson left the organization in 2013, claiming that it had turn out to be also extreme.