So this is happening tomorrow. The appeal of Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (Tommy Robinson) will be heard at the Royal Courts of Justice. Some brief pointers on what to expect: [THREAD]
1. Robinson is appealing ONLY against the length of his committal to prison (13 months). He is *not* appealing against the finding that he was in contempt of court. This is hardly surprising given that he admitted the contempt at Leeds Crown Court, but some confusion remains.
2. Robinson *could* have appealed against the finding of contempt. Unlike "ordinary" Crown Court convictions by a jury, there is an automatic right of appeal to the Court of Appeal against a finding of contempt. To appeal a conviction or sentence normally requires permission.
3. The fact that, having been fully advised by his legal team, Robinson is not exercising his right to appeal against the fact of the contempt, refutes the claims by his supporters that his actions didn't amount to contempt of court. They did. He admits it and doesn't appeal.
4. The powers of the Court of Appeal on hearing an appeal against a contempt are wider than in a normal appeal against sentence. In theory the Court could decrease or increase the sentence, although it is (I would say) very unlikely that the sentence would be increased.
5. Although the Court could hand down judgment tomorrow, it would not be surprising if judgment were reserved (i.e. postponed to be handed down at a later date). Given the public and media interest, I would expect the Court to want time to reflect upon and refine their judgment.
6. This means there could be a wait of a week or two. If so, it won't be because the establishment is conspiring to unfairly delay Robinson's hearing. It will be entirely unremarkable Court of Appeal protocol. Just to forewarn in the event of outbursts from his followers.
7. Either way, I'll get a blogpost up exploring the judgment as and when we get it. Y'know, real-life professional commitments permitting. [ENDS]
Further to this thread, some thoughts on what actually happened, after some surprising twists and turns at today's appeal: thesecretbarrister.com/2018/07/18/tom…
