The festive season was brightened up immeasurably this week by the sight of Tommy Robinson on the phone at the airport on his way back from Norway, being told that court bailiffs are chasing him for £103,000.
The bailiffs had already, he was informed, been to his parents’ house where they believed he was living. They are chasing a costs order made against him when he was convicted of contempt of court last October. They want the money or they will be seizing assets.
For Robinson, naturally, this is an outrage. He posted:
There’s just one rather significant fact he left out. He pleaded guilty. To all ten charges.
He pleaded guilty.
And that, we recall, was after launching an appeal for funds to pay for his defence, an appeal which raised over £100,000. And then he pleaded guilty so there was no trial.
Where’s the money gone?
So, the question that has been asked many times, but remains unanswered is, “Where has all that money gone?”
It’s a question sure to be raised again an again when, inevitably, he launches yet another grifting appeal for cash to pay off these costs.
The fact is, he has already had it.
Hyperactive fundraising
The bailiffs will also be aware, we are sure, that Robinson – real name Steven Yaxley-Lennon – has recently been hyperactive on the fundraising front.
Thousands of pound worth of merchandise (hats, hoodies, flags, badges etc, all manufactured cheaply in Bangladesh) were shipped out to supporters in the lead up to his 12 September London rally, and there has been a huge drive to sell copies of his books as Xmas presents.
His trip to Norway was itself to launch a reprint of one of those books.
Robinson gives every appearance of someone who is raking it in – despite telling the bailiffs on the phone that he has no assets and that he is resident in Spain.
And, as we have pointed out many times this year, he has had an abundance of luxury foreign holidays – six this year – including one with his “ex-wife” Jenna Vowles who herself does not appear to be short of a bob or two.
In May this year she was disqualified as a company director, following the liquidation of a company with approximately £319,000 in unpaid tax and a failure to provide accounting records to the Insolvency Service.
Shortly afterwards, she was holidaying in Cyprus with her “former” husband.
And let’s not forget that when he was stopped at the Eurotunnel in Folkestone, just after his contempt conviction, he was found with £13,000 in cash in the car he was driving.
No proof
On the phone he was trying to convince the court bailiffs service that he had residency in Spain but had no proof that he was living there.
We suspect that the residency claim will come down to merely having a Foreign Identity Number (NIE) which he would need to buy property or open a bank account.
Including a crypto account.
