Judge Makes Momentous Decision In Anti-Islam Activist's Terror Case

dailycaller.com

A British judge on Tuesday acquitted anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson of a terrorism-related offense after ruling police stopped and detained him at the Channel Tunnel because of his political beliefs, not a legitimate terror purpose.

District Judge Sam Goozée at Westminster Magistrates’ Court found the July 28, 2024 Schedule 7 stop unlawful and said he could not be sure the examination was carried out for its statutory aim, undercutting the charge that Robinson broke the law by refusing to provide his phone PIN. (RELATED: Tommy Robinson Reportedly Faces Terror Charge Trial For Refusing To Unlock His Phone)

“I cannot put out of my mind that it was actually what you stood for and your beliefs that acted as a principal reason for the stop,” Goozée wrote, adding those beliefs “acted as a significant influence” on an officer’s decision-making.

Robinson — legal name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon — was driving a silver Bentley to France when officers detained him in Folkestone and demanded his iPhone PIN under Schedule 7, which allows questioning at UK ports without suspicion to determine terrorism links. He declined, citing journalistic material on the device.

In the detailed ruling, Goozée said he was “unsure if the ‘true and dominant purpose’ fell within the powers” of Schedule 7 and found a “protected characteristic appears to have had a significant influence” on the stop, concluding the Crown had failed to prove the examination was lawful — a prerequisite for conviction.

During the October trial, Robinson said billionaire Elon Musk was covering his legal bills — a claim he first aired publicly — and repeated outside court Tuesday, according to Reuters.

Robinson had been charged under paragraph 18 of Schedule 7 for willfully failing to comply with a duty to provide his PIN — an offense that can carry up to three months in jail or a fine — but walked free after Goozée’s decision.