Tommy Robinson found not guilty after refusing to give his iPhone to authorities
Tommy Robinson, a British far-right activist, has been found not guilty of a terror offence after refusing to give authorities access to his phone in 2024.
Tommy Robinson, whose government name is Stephen Yaxley Lennon, was stopped by police at the Channel Tunnel in Folkestone, England, where he refused to hand his phone over to authorities.
The police didn’t seem to like his “vague replies” regarding where he was travelling to, and demanded that Robinson hand over his iPhone under the Terrorism Act, which Robinson declined to do.
The officers who arrested Robinson reportedly had “no real recollection” of the questions they asked during the stop, the BBC reports.
The court was told that the police had not recorded reasons for stopping Robinson back in July 2024.
The judge seemed to suggest that it was a random decision based on Robinson’s character and was because the far-right activist “stood up for” his beliefs, the BBC reports.
Police in the UK can ask for your device under suspicion of terrorism or child sexual abuse offenses.
However, the person must either give consent for their phone to be taken during a stop or search; otherwise, a warrant is needed to access a person’s device.
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While police argued that Robinson should hand his phone over for inspection due to the Terrorism Act of 2000, which does circumvent these rules, the Westminster Magistrates Court heard that the reasons for stopping Robinson were generally unclear.
The court heard that the police didn’t seem to have grounds to enact their Schedule 7 powers, which allow officers to stop, question, search, and detain a person at a port or border if they’re believed to be involved in an act of terrorism, the UK government states.
Yet, Robinsion refused to give his phone over to the authorities, which seemingly put a wrench in their plans to convict him.
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