Man accused of racially harassing Tommy Robinson cleared by the court

A YouTuber accused of racially abusing Tommy Robinson had the charges against him dropped after the former head of the English Defence League lied to police.

Muhammad Abdul Basir, 24, was cleared of harassing Robinson after prosecutors dropped the case.

Robinson, 38, claimed the videos posted on the popular platform by Basir left him terrified and fearful about his children attending school.

But prosecutor Peter Clement said it had recently emerged Robinson had told not been honest with officers investigating the allegations.

Samantha Wright, defending Basir said: ‘The Crown found that on further investigation that the complainant had lied in his statement.

‘He said that he had to take his children out of school because he was worried about what may happen as a result of those videos but that was a lie.’

Basir, who lives with his parents, was said to have discussed cutting Robinson’s ‘neck off’ in a homemade video titled ‘Tommy Robinson Abdul Basir 5’.

He was also said to have posted further videos of a similar nature about Robinson in September 2019.

Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was not present for the hearing.

Mrs Justice Whipple formally discharged Basir from the dock, saying the charges of stalking and racial abuse were dropped and he was free to go.

Basir, of Phipps Bridge Road, Mitcham, was cleared of stalking Robinson between September 13 and 19 and causing serious alarm or distress by posting YouTube videos on September 13 and 16, 2019.

He was also charged with racially aggravated stalking of Robinson between the same dates by causing fear that violence would be used against him.

All the charges were dropped.

Basir, who was described by his lawyer as a man of good character with vulnerabilities and mental health issues, was present on video link.
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