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Back at the Old Bailey for Day 2 of Tommy Robinson’s trial. Things kick off at 10:30am GMT. The attorney general’s barrister will continue arguing the law this morning, after which Robinson’s will do the same. Robinson may be recalled as a witness today.
Here’s my recap from the first day of Tommy Robinson’s contempt hearing. The case wraps today.
One of the PA "journalists" I overheard conspiring about Tommy Robinson last year has entered the courtroom's press box. Be on guard for fake news, folks. Background: andrewlawton.ca/i-overheard-ho…
Tommy Robinson and his legal team have arrived in Courtroom 2 at the Old Bailey. The attorney general's lawyers are also here. Case is set to start in five minutes.
Court is in session. Day begins with Tommy Robinson being recalled as a witness by his barrister, Richard Furlong.
Government's lawyer is challenging Tommy Robinson on the timeline again, specifically a part of Robinson's affidavit in which he says he reviewed a photograph of a courthouse monitor showing no reporting restriction listed, prior to beginning his live stream.
Robinson says the government's barrister searched for evidence to disprove Robinson's testimony but that it actually backed him up, regarding searches he and his team did of court website/courtroom door/court information screens to determine if there was a reporting restriction.
Government's lawyer is questioning Robinson about relationship with former colleague Caolan Robertson. The two had a falling out, but Robertson has photograph of the courtroom screen showing no reporting restriction, Robinson says, noting he hasn't been able to get it from him.
No further questions for Tommy Robinson. He's dismissed. Government lawyer now resuming his closing submission.
Government's lawyer is arguing primarily that Robinson knew there was a reporting restriction. He says the government's "fallback" position is that Robinson knew there likely was one.
Government's lawyer says that Tommy Robinson knew there'd been a reporting restriction because he asked a security officer if it had been lifted. Well yes, but Robinson also saw no reference of the restriction in the places they're to be posted, and court office was closed.
Attorney General's barrister says Tommy Robinson didn't actually try to verify absence of a reporting restriction because he didn't go to the court office. (Which was closed.) Also, both the government's own witnesses verified yesterday Robinson DID try.
The government's lawyer is now pointing out that Tommy Robinson didn't lay out checks he did to determine restrictions when he appeared before Judge Marson. Perhaps because he was denied his desired legal representation for that hearing, which came immediately after his arrest.
The crux of the government barrister's closing argument seems to be that Robinson has added further detail and information to his defence at the various stages of his legal ordeal. Though all of these additional details are verifiable – and indeed, verified.
Government lawyer says Tommy Robinson made "a reckless assumption of what he might be able to do because it suited him to do so...his whole objective was to get the defendants' faces out there, and he knew that they were liable to arrive early at court."
This is hardly a gotcha moment, as Robinson admitted under oath yesterday he wanted the defendants' faces made public. Doesn't everyone commenting or reporting on a story want their content made public?
Great point:
Government lawyer says Tommy Robinson wanted to use a previous news article (from the Huddersfield Examiner) with the names and charges of the grooming gang suspects to justify being able to name them and list their charges during his live stream. And...?
Government's lawyer says violating a reporting restriction is a liability offence, and thus doesn't require any deliberate intent to violate as crimes generally do.
Just as a matter of context, this hearing is classed as a civil matter, rather than a criminal one. Meaning guilt doesn't need to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, but rather on the balance of probabilities.
A case the attorney general's barrister cited at considerable length:
Bit of trivia: a 2013 Independent article indicates Old Bailey trials cost about £100 per minute to run. Not sure what the tally is for Tommy Robinson's cases. independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-n…
Government's lawyer is citing a case decided by the Lord Justice Lawton. He's not speaking about me. At least I don't think he is.
Attorney General's barrister says Tommy Robinson's filming was "targeted at defendants in a public street at a time of high anxiety for them." Further says it was important they be treated as "potentially innocent" at that time.
Attorney General's lawyer says that Tommy Robinson "exploits" the "unedifying" things said to him by the defendants in his live stream. (He's referring to the lewd comments about his wife and mother.)
Government lawyer says the issue at hand isn't just whether Robinson's conduct impeded justice, but also the "wider potential" for Robinson's followers or "any aggrieved citizen" to do similar things in the future.
Attorney General's lawyer rests his closing submissions. Tommy Robinson's barrister requests a brief break. Will resume again in 10 minutes.
Back at it. Tommy Robinson's barrister delivering his closing arguments now.
Tommy Robinson's lawyer reading from the actual section 4 reporting restriction order that Robinson is said to have breached. It specifically bars reporting on "these proceedings" which Robinson wasn't doing because he wasn't actually in the courtroom for them.
Tommy Robinson's barrister says the judge who issued the reporting restriction could have barred publication if details of "all proceedings" but wrote "these proceedings" in the order instead.
The United Kingdom Judicial College's guide to reporting restrictions says courts "have no power...to prevent publication of material that is already in the public domain." Government lawyer says this is not consistent with law, even though the government publishes it. 
Tommy Robinson's lawyer says rather than enforcing "impossible" reporting restrictions, emphasis should be on ensuring juries disregard details they shouldn't be consuming, which already happens in jury trials.
Tommy Robinson's lawyer says that the Huddersfield Examiner and BBC articles cited by Robinson, with names and charges of grooming gang defendants, were not contacted by the government to edit or remove their stories, implying restriction is being enforced unevenly.
Robinson's lawyer says that even if the AG's lawyer is correct that Judicial College guidelines on public domain reporting are wrong, that they are published would justify that Robinson believed he was permitted to report on public domain info.
Tommy Robinson's lawyer says the Attorney General's position has changed throughout the proceedings, from being about non-compliance with the "terms of the order" to being about non-compliance with the "existence and the terms of the order."
Court recesses for lunch. Will resume in one hour.
Back in session. Tommy Robinson's barrister, Richard Furlong, is resuming his closing arguments.
Tommy Robinson's barrister says the reason Robinson didn't introduce certain exculpatory facts during the appeal, as government lawyer criticized, is because appeal was fought (and won) on procedural grounds, due to the rushed 10-minute hearing that sent him to jail last year.
Tommy Robinson's barrister is reading from the transcript of Robinson's live stream, demonstrating he was mindful of ensuring he was only discussing public domain matters, and referencing possibility of reporting restriction.
Tommy Robinson's lawyer argues that in order to say commentary on a legal case is at risk of prejudicing the outcome, it needs to be prejudicial enough to give a defendant grounds to appeal, which didn't happen with the case Robinson was covering.
Tommy Robinson's lawyer reminds court there was nothing threatening or intimidating about Robinson's "reasonable" questions of defendants. Indeed, Robinson was asking the defendants pretty standard questions – like how they were feeling about the case.
Both sides have concluded their arguments. Court has recessed while judges retire to their chambers.
Judges are about to re-enter the chambers. They could give a decision immediately, or announce they'll be reserving until a later date. Both are plausible, barristers have said.
BREAKING: Court finds Tommy Robinson guilty of contempt of court in three ways.
Lady Justice Victoria Sharp says Tommy Robinson's live stream gave "substantial risk" that justice would be impeded, and directly interfered with the course of justice by his interactions with defendants.
The court found that Tommy Robinson's actions amounted to a "serious interference with the administration of justice." Sentencing will be announced at a later date, as will a detailed list of reasons for the judgment.
Tommy Robinson's barrister asks whether there will be a distribution of the reasons electronically or a formal handing down. Lady Justice Victoria Sharp says it will be delivered at the forthcoming sentencing hearing.
The judges propose a "provisional" hearing date of July 11. Next week. Coincidentally the same day as the United Kingdom government's media freedom summit a few miles away. Robinson's barrister is challenging the date.
Court rises momentarily while Tommy Robinson's barrister confers with attorney general's barrister about sentencing date. Robinson's lawyer want time to secure a medical report to introduce during sentencing discussions, related to Robinson's health during prior incarceration.
Less than 30 minutes ago, I spoke with Tommy Robinson briefly, ahead of the judges delivering their decision. He said he knew it was headed towards a guilty finding.
Court back in session. Tommy Robinson's barrister says it will take four to six weeks to get a medical report. "Perhaps they do. Perhaps they don't," Lady Justice Victoria Sharp says. She's sticking to July 11 date.
Lady Justice Sharp says formal written decision will be issued prior to next week's sentencing for review.
With that, court rises. The trial of Tommy Robinson has concluded.
Security says it’s too dangerous to allow us to allow us to exit Old Bailey through main doors. We are being forced out the back door.
The mainstream media will report about the anger of the crowd. No one can be surprised. They see a man who stood up for their towns when everyone else looked away being prosecuted for political reasons. People are legitimately crying about this decision.
