Tommy Robinson complains he was 'mentally tortured' because he had no TV in prison

Officials deny EDL founder's claim he was kept in solitary confinement for 23 hours every day

Tommy Robinson has lodged an official complaint claiming he was “mentally tortured” after being given no TV while in prison.

In what was purportedly a form lodged with the prison service, posted by the far-right figurehead on his Facebook page, he claimed he had been kept in solitary confinement for 23 hours every day for two months.

The English Defence League (EDL) founder, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was released on bail on Wednesday as judges overturned his 13-month sentence for contempt of court and ordered him to face a retrial.

The complaint form published by Tommy Robinson on his Facebook page (Facebook/ Tommy Robinson)

He had been convicted in May after filming people in an ongoing criminal trial at Leeds Crown Court and broadcasting it to 250,000 people on social media.

Robinson claims he lost nearly 40lbs during his two months in jail, eating only one tin of tuna and a piece of fruit daily and said he was “paranoid” that other inmates were tampering with his food.

“You are punishing me with no TV,” he wrote.

“I’d like to be given a TV as I feel I am being mentally tortured.

“I don’t eat the prison food as I can’t see if anything is done to it as servey [sic] may know its coming to my cell. I’m paranoid so I rely on tinned food from the canteen.”

He was “allowed no socialisation, no church, no education, no work and no gym,” he wrote.

He also complained about being moved from prison in Hull to HMP Onley in Rugby.

“You have moved me from Hull with a 7 per cent Muslim population to here where 1 in 3 prisoners are Muslim. I’d like to know how that move could have happened considering you have a duty of care for my safety.”

“This prison move is not progressive and is affecting my mental health.”

The Prison Service rejected his claims.

“Mr Yaxley-Lennon was treated with the same fairness we aim to show all prisoners – he had access to visits, television and showers – and it is totally false to say he was held in ‘solitary confinement’”, said a Prison Service spokesman.

“He was initially placed into the Care & Separation Unit for less than 48 hours while an assessment of the risk to his safety was undertaken by prison staff. He then joined the main prison population.”

Robinson told Fox News programme Tucker Carlson Tonight that he had been spat at and had excrement thrown at him by other prisons.

“I was supposed to be in Her Majesty’s Prison Service, not Guantanamo Bay,” he said.

He claimed he had informed authorities he had previously been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder following a five-month period of solitary confinement in 2012.

Upon overturning his prison sentence, judges ordered Robinson to face a new hearing at the Old Bailey for allegations of contempt.

Robinson left prison with more money and more supporters than when he entered, including public recognition from the US president’s son Donald Trump Jr.

His Facebook following has increased by more than 10 per cent to 865,000, and he has received more than £20,000 in Bitcoin since he was jailed in May.