Tommy Robinson’s Unsuccessful Death Threats Case

London man, Muhammad Abdul Basir, who had made videos threatening UK public personality Tommy Robinson and his family, was cleared of the charges brought against him. The case hinged on Robinson’s claim that he had feared for his life as a result of the threats. The court found that this was not the case, recalling Robinson’s interactions with Basir. Robinson was also found to have lied to the police about the specifics of the case. The court did not dispute that Basir had made the videos or their threatening nature. He is reportedly suffering from schizophrenia, which would render his actions less credible.

In January 2018, Abdul Basir made a video targeting Tommy Robinson. In it, he said:

“Yo Tommy, I challenge you and all of your people to a stabbing match, to a killing match. I weigh 115 kg, 17.5 inch biceps, fifteen chest almost, like real natural bodybuilder. You don’t know me. If you take a single breath, I will kill your family and you’ll eat your family.”

In the video, Basir appears half-naked and behaves erratically, hinting at possible underlying psychological instability. In further videos, Basir says:

“I’ll cut your mother. I’ll rip… You’ll eat your mother. ”

“His death will come with my hands.”

In response to the threats, Tommy Robinson reportedly offered £1000 to anyone able to locate Basir. After Basir’s address became known to Robinson, he passed this information on to the police. Unhappy with the police’s handling of the situation, he initiated a confrontation with Basir, which he also recorded. 

In the recording, Basir can be seen retreating from Robinson, apparently scared of him. Robinson had asked him why the police had not already found him earlier after “talking about killing [Robinson’s] kids”. When Basir falls on the ground and gets up while Robinson catches up with him, Robinson repeats several times that he has no intention of hurting Basir. He goes on to shout at Basir that if he has mental issues, he should seek treatment rather than threaten other people’s families. At what appears to be the end of the scene, Basir asks Robinson to have an arm wrestle with him. Robinson says: “Meeting you now, I know there’s no danger to my family, yeah?” to which Basir responds: “Okay, I’ll protect you, I’ll protect you.”

In what appears to be a continuation of their interaction, Robinson is indeed having an arm wrestle with Basir. Then, as the police arrive to take Basir into custody, he says to Robinson: “First I didn’t know you; that’s why I was doing that. When I knew you, you’re a good person, you’re not a bad person.”

Of this interaction, Robinson later claimed in court that it “reinforced his fears” that he and his family might be in danger. Reportedly, he did not make the court aware that the scene had been filmed. This became one of the grounds on which the court decided that Robinson was not fearing for his life as the results of Basir’s threats.

Due to his mental illness, Basir was released from custody later in 2018 and had charges dismissed. He has repeatedly confirmed both to Robinson and others that he had been suffering from schizophrenia, claiming he has a “medical report”. Likewise, a woman claiming to be his sister agreed that Basir was taking medication for his illness and that he does not know what he is doing when he does not take it. Robinson said of Basir that he was “clearly mentally ill”.

In September 2019, Basir made a series of new statements, in which he threatened Robinson and his family again. In these clips, Basir appears to be focusing his anger not just against Robinson but against English people in general. He says: 

“All the white people are mental bruh, fuck the white people bruh.”

“I’m gonna beat up Tommy,”

“Listen to my words carefully, Tommy. I’m gonna cut your neck off…” along with the necks of his “EDL [English Defence League, an organisation founded by Robinson] fans”.

“If anything happens to my family, I’m gonna stab up anyone I who see who is English … I’m gonna stab up any English people that comes in my way, and I don’t care. If I go to jail I’m gonna stab up any English people I see there, you know.”

In another video, Basir reportedly said of himself:

“I’m a contract killer. I have got guns. How much will you offer me to kill Tommy Robinson?”

Similarly to the situation from 2018, Robinson decided to take matters into his own hands. In videos from outside Basir’s residence, Robinson explains that his aim is for Basir to be arrested for his threats, urging the police to get involved in the situation. When the police arrive at the scene, they proceed to arrest Basir.

In the conversation between policemen and Robinson, one of the officers asks Robinson why he had come there at all if he is afraid for his life. He responds that he is not afraid now, because Basir has finally been arrested after “three days” of alleged police inaction. He repeated his earlier claims that due to inadequate handling of the situation by the police, he had been afraid for the lives of his wife and children.

A policeman at the scene also says that Robinson should not have come because “it’s just gonna make the situation worse”.

Following his arrest, Basir was charged with racially aggravated harassment involving fear of violence and putting someone in fear of violence, according to the Evening Standard. Yesterday, the case against him was dropped, following findings that Robinson had lied to the police. Robinson had claimed that due to the threats, he had to withdraw his children from school for a time and that he had been receiving warnings from authorities about the threats to his life and/or threats of violence. According to reports, it was shown in court that these claims were not true. Furthermore, Basir’s lawyer claimed that Robinson had misled the court as to the nature of the interactions between him and Basir. The court then found that the nature of Robinson’s prior interactions with Basir did not indicate he feared him.