Tommy Robinson's social media posts that caused journalists to fear violence

Tommy Robinson's social media posts that caused journalists to fear violence Far-right activist Tommy Robinson was found guilty on Wednesday of harassing two Daily Mail journalists - Bookmark Become an Independent member to bookmark this article Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Membership today. Join todayAlready a member? Log in Tommy Robinson has been found guilty of harassing two Daily Mail journalists and causing them to fear violence after posting a number of times on social media. The 43-year-old’s posts about Jacob Dirnhuber and Andrew Young amassed millions of views on X, with one including a picture of Mr Dirnhuber outside his address attracting 4.8 million views, Southwark Crown Court heard. Here, we take a look at the posts, direct messages and calls Robinson made over the course of three days... 5 August -5.34am The prosecution stated that Robinson’s “angry” and “retaliatory” posts began on August 5, as he hit out at the Daily Mail’s decision to photograph and write a story about him in Cyprus. In a post on X, which has been viewed 244,000 times and made reference to the newspaper’s front page headline “Stoking riots from his sunbed”, the activist wrote: “Quick question, these lies have a direct result on threats to my family. “Is it ok if I track down the journalists addresses & families details & dox them. Would that be journalism. “This has been coordinated from the top down because my latest documentary humiliates their lies. “They have purposely doxxed where my children are is it fair for me to do the same to them. “(Jacob Dirnhuber) by tomorrow I’ll have every bit of information on the journalists who wrote these lies & endangered & caused fear to my children. “This is not acceptable behaviour, it’s intimidation by a corrupt & morally bankrupt media.” – 8.50am Around three hours later, Robinson followed his public post by sending direct messages to Mr Dirnhuber. The messages read: “I’ll be knocking at your door. Let your bosses know I’m coming to all of your houses.” – 4pm (6pm Cyprus time) As Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, posted on social media about “tracking” the journalists down, Mr Young remained in Cyprus and received a “menacing” call from Robinson. Outlining what was said on the call, prosecutor Ben Holt said in his opening to the jury: “Mr Lennon became, in Mr Young’s words, increasingly menacing. He raised his voice and was swearing and shouting. “He said that he had been researching Mr Young’s family and threatened to publish photographs of them and their addresses online.” Mr Holt added: “Mr Young believes Mr Lennon said, ‘I’m coming to get you’.” – 4.19pm Following up on his previous direct messages to Mr Dirnhuber, Robinson told the Daily Mail journalist: “Okay got your address. We need to talk.” 6 August – 5.29am The day after messaging Mr Dirnhuber to confirm he had his address, Robinson went public with claiming he had “tracked each one” of the journalists involved in the newspaper’s story. In a post viewed 3.7 million times, that remained live while the trial was ongoing, Robinson said: “Don’t worry I’ve already tracked each one of them. “Let’s see how they like being in my story.” – 9.43pm On the evening of 6 August, Robinson sent a series of posts which included pictures of his victims’ homes. In his first post, which has been viewed 4.8 million times, and contains images of Mr Dirnhuber outside his home, he said: “Got ya (Jacob Dirnhuber). “This is Jacob, he likes to locate & endanger families. “Jacob & the rest of the daily mail journalists who were involved in endangering my children have today been located. “I look forward to hearing on camera your justification for doxxing my children’s location. “I got all 3 of you tagged & bagged in 1 day.” – 9.54pm Just minutes later, Robinson posted pictures online of Mr Young’s home, which have been viewed 350,00 times, and also remained live while the trial was ongoing. The pictures were accompanied by Robinson saying: “I called them yesterday. They showed pictures of innocent people in their daily mail article. “I won’t do that. I’ve tried to call their boss but he won’t pick up. “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.” – 10.45pm Later that evening, Robinson posted cropped photographs of Mr Young’s wife, daughter and a vehicle on his driveway. The post, which has been viewed one million times and which is still accessible on X, was accompanied with the words: “Hey (Jacob Dirnhuber) get your colleague Andrew young to call me back, you see he published pictures of my family & gave away their location. “I’m working on a news piece myself about all of you, I won’t identify any innocent people or give address as that’s not morally right unlike you scum. “You will all be questioned on camera about how you think endangering children is ok. My homework continues.” – 10.50pm Five minutes after his final post about the journalists on 6 August, Robinson sent further direct messages to Mr Dirnhuber, saying: “Your bosses need to contact me Jacob. You’ve all endangered my children. “I’ll bring my questions to all of your doors. Your boss needs to make this right. “You could have wrote about me you didn’t need to show my family or their location.” 7 August On 7 August, Robinson left a voicemail to the Daily Mail’s editor-in-chief Ted Verity, telling him he would “make you famous and your families”. In the message, which was played to the jury during the trial, the defendant says: “If it’s legitimate journalism then expect me to come knocking,” adding: “I’ve already located every f****** one of you.” – 12.50pm Robinson continued to post on X about the journalists on 7 August. In one post, viewed 228,000 times, the defendant said: “They think they can dox & endanger children with zero consequences.” The prosecution said after this post, Mr Dirnhuber stopped checking his social media.