Tommy Robinson has been tracked down to a restaurant in Athens after taunting police in Cyprus by revealing he had already fled from his five-star hotel on the island.
The far-right activist, who has been accused of fuelling riots in the UK with a stream of inflammatory and inaccurate social media posts, had claimed his life was at risk in Cyprus after his holiday location was revealed.
He fled to Greece after police in Cyprus released a statement saying they were ‘ready to help’ British authorities get him extradited back to the UK to potentially face justice for inciting riots.
Responding to an online news report about the statement yesterday, Robinson retorted on X, formerly Twitter, that he was no longer on the island, telling his 900,000 followers: ‘Lucky I’m not in Cyprus then ain’t it.’
He later released yet another video rant, filmed as he tucked into a lamb dish which he described as ‘beautiful’ at an outside table in an unidentified restaurant in what appeared to be a city or town centre under clear blue skies.
Tommy Robinson shot a video at a restaurant in Athens after leaving a five-star hotel in Cyprus
Tommy Robinson has been fanning the flames of tension in riot-hit Britain with a constant stream of inflammatory social media posts while, earlier this month, on holiday in Cyprus
The 41-year-old, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is also facing legal difficulties after failing to attend a court hearing last Monday on a separate issue
The founder and former leader of the English Defence League appeared red faced and angry as he moaned about how the Mail had wrecked his family holiday by revealing that he had been in a luxury hotel on the outskirts of party resort Ayia Napa.
But while emphasising the importance of his family’s personal security, Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, made no effort to try and disguise the restaurant location where he was filming from.
A left-wing orientated X account called GB News Spin Room which boasts that it is ‘debunking propaganda’ and ‘exposing far-right misinformation’, posted that they could see Robinson was in Athens.
The account was able to track Robinson down to Greece’s capital by examining the size and positioning of a road sign in the background of his video, along with blue marking on a passing taxi with a yellow number plate, and a traffic calming zone sign.
It added: ‘Meanwhile, Yaxley is eating lamb (a popular Greek food) opposite a barber shop positioned on the corner of a one way street. Can’t be too many of those…’
After carrying out more detective work, the account posted an update, saying: ‘Tommy Robinson filmed his latest video at Mavro Provato, a Mediterranean restaurant in central Athens.’
It is believed that the account came to the conclusion after studying the apartment buildings and road in the background of the video, and comparing it to Google Street View images.
Robinson did not dispute the finding and re-tweeted, the post to his followers, adding nonchalantly: ‘& my lamb dish is was bloody fabulous. I recommend anyone visiting Athens to try this place’.
It is not known if Robinson is still in Athens or if he was in the city during a brief stop over before getting a connecting flight back to his home in Spain.
However, he has since claimed he is no longer in Athens in a tweet in which he shared screenshots of an exchange with a journalist, lampooning them for flying out ‘to meet me when I’m not even there’.
The restaurant he was at is rated an impressive 4.6 out on 5 on Google reviews with one recent diner complimenting staff on their ‘magnificent’ service, dishes which were ‘very fair for the price’ and a ‘spectacular’ moussaka.
Another praised the eaterie for its ‘very friendly atmosphere and staff and ‘big portions for really good prices’, saying: ‘No tourists and obviously it was full of locals. Staff was super helpful and nice!’
Tommy Robinson pictured sunbathing on holiday in Ayia Napa in Cyprus. The 41-year-old, who had a UK arrest warrant issued against him last Monday after he missed a court appearance had tried to keep his holiday location a secret
Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, fled the country ahead of a court date after allegedly breaching a court order
Robinson has posted a stream of inflammatory social media posts from his foreign boltholes while on holiday with family and friends
Britain’s director of public prosecutions warned yesterday that social media influencers allegedly fuelling violent disorder would be extradited, but did not mention Robinson by name.
Stephen Parkinson told the BBC that offenders ‘must know that they are not safe and there is nowhere to hide’.
He added: ‘We would certainly consider extradition if we are satisfied that an offence has been committed.’
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said ‘there will be a reckoning’ for perpetrators, adding that social media put a ‘rocket booster’ under the violence which erupted more than a week ago after three children were murdered in Southport.
Last weekend a reporter from the Mail watched on as Robinson, armed only with his phone, seamlessly merged enjoying the luxury of a £400-a-night all-inclusive hotel with rabble-rousing.
He was seen spending time on a cabana day bed, relaxing in the pool, working out at the hotel gym and visiting its pizza restaurant and bar – all while keeping up a constant stream of inflammatory social media posts.
There were messages attacking the police for going soft on Muslim protests, on the media for labelling protesters as ‘far-Right’ and on Home Secretary Yvette Cooper for calling them ‘thugs’.
He also shared a series of fake stories over the weekend, including claims that Muslims had stabbed protesters in Staffordshire and attacked three women in Scotland as well as false posts blaming two Somali migrants for the murder of a grandmother walking her dog in Suffolk.
Robinson expressed outrage when he was accused of having a hand in whipping up the on-going disorder.
He posted a series of videos blaming the Government for tension, saying in one: ‘It’s not on me, it’s on you,.. This mess is your doing not mine. Your policy failures gave birth to these tensions, your failure to listen & to lie & label everyone far right has caused this.
‘Your cowardice to enforce the law equally has caused this. Two-tier policing has caused this not me.’
With nearly 900,000 followers on X, formerly Twitter, Robinson, a violent, convicted criminal, has transformed himself from street fighter to social media influencer.
He was banned from the platform in 2018, but allowed back on last year by its new owner, Elon Musk. Analytics published by Robinson last week showed that his posts had been viewed 1.2 billion times in the three months to August.
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