UK anti-Islam activist 'Tommy Robinson' loses appeal against prison sentence

LONDON (Reuters) -British anti-Islam activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon on Wednesday lost his appeal against his 18-month sentence after he previously admitted contempt of court for repeating false allegations against a Syrian refugee.

Yaxley-Lennon, known as Tommy Robinson, was jailed in October after he admitted contempt of court by breaching an injunction banning him from repeating the allegations against Jamal Hijazi, who successfully sued him for libel.

In a ruling on Wednesday, three judges at London's Court of Appeal dismissed Yaxley-Lennon's appeal.

They said that a previous judge's "application of the law and his reasoning on the appropriate sanction in this case both exhibit a meticulous approach".

Britain's Solicitor General took legal action against Yaxley-Lennon over comments in online interviews and a documentary titled 'Silenced', which has been viewed millions of times and was played in London's Trafalgar Square in July.

Last month, the 42-year-old self-styled journalist was refused permission to bring a legal challenge over the decision to keep him in segregation at Woodhill Prison in central England.

Yaxley-Lennon, who counts U.S. billionaire Elon Musk among his supporters, was accused by some media and politicians of inflaming tensions which led to days of rioting across Britain in late July after the murder of three young girls at a dance workshop in Southport.

Yaxley-Lennon's social media account said in January that the U.S. billionaire was paying some of his legal fees, though Musk has not confirmed this.

($1 = 0.7532 pounds)

(Reporting by Sam Tabahriti. Editing by Andrew MacAskill)