THE decision to release Stephen Yaxley-Lennon on bail after his jailing for contempt of court was branded a travesty by anti-fascists outside the Royal Courts of Justice today.

The far-right leader, who goes by the name of Tommy Robinson, was released from HMP Onley near Rugby after the Court of Appeal ruled that a finding of contempt at Leeds Crown Court had been “fundamentally flawed.”

In May Mr Yaxley-Lennon, who had been previously convicted for a number of offences including football-related violence and fraud, was sentenced to 10 months behind bars five hours after live-streaming the arrival of defendants in an ongoing trial at Leeds. A judge also activated a three-month suspended sentence for contempt relating to a case at Canterbury Crown Court in May 2017.