The Facebook page of Stephen Yaxley Lennon, who styles himself Tommy Robinson, has taken time out from ruminating on his upcoming appearance at the Old Bailey to tell readers “MEDIA POLICING THE NEWS: Armed Police ARREST Newspaper Publisher over ‘Hate Crime’”. What Lennon, or whoever looks after the page, has not told is that he has an interest in this case - because it involves his publisher.
As Huddersfield’s Examiner Live has reported, “An MP has raised 'serious concerns' with West Yorkshire Police after it emerged that newspaper publisher Danny Lockwood was arrested by armed police as he drove to work on Monday … Journalist Mr Lockwood, publisher of Dewsbury paper The Press, was handcuffed and taken to York police station before being transferred to Dewsbury where he was questioned about three hate crimes at the office of Dewsbury MP Paula Sherriff”. There was more.
“The crimes are thought to involve swastikas being placed at the doorstep of the MP's office in Wellington Road on three separate occasions - July 3, August 9 and 17 … It is understood that a CCTV image of the suspect shows a bald white man at the scene - which Ms Sherriff's staff had told police was NOT Mr Lockwood, it has been reported”.
The whole business seems rather strange: “Mr Lockwood, on advice from his lawyer, volunteered to attend Dewsbury police station by appointment to assist with police inquiries if required … However, Mr Lockwood says that West Yorkshire Police then authorised a nationwide 'wanted' alert on the national police computer … He says he was ‘forced’ off the A64 near its M1 junction by three marked police BMW X5s and an unmarked one, all carrying armed North Yorkshire officers”. Not local to Dewsbury, then.
But the accounts are missing two things. Danny Lockwood has significant previous for hate speech: as the Observer reported earlier this month, “In January, Danny Lockwood, owner of The Press, met Tommy Robinson, former English Defence League leader and notorious Islamophobe, near Jo Cox House to discuss how the town’s Muslim and ‘established’ white community were ‘completely at odds with each other’”.
There was more. “Last month alone, Lockwood used his columns to attack a group that monitors anti-Muslim hate incidents – whom he called ‘soft-headed virtue signallers’; questioned the definition of Islamophobia; and mocked the ‘Zorro outfits’ worn by some Muslim women … Cox’s successor, Tracy Brabin, has not been spared. Dismissing her as a member of ‘the Palestine-loving Labour left’”. And so on, and so forth.
And something else the reports aren’t telling is that The Press News Ltd., which publishes the paper that carries all the Muslim bashing copy, is also responsible for the edition of Lennon’s essay in victimhood Enemy Of The State which will wing its way to your door if you order it from Amazon. Danny Lockwood is Stephen Lennon’s publisher.
As with so many things related to Lennon and his activities, why Lockwood was hauled over on the A64 recently remains partly a mystery. Armed officers are not deployed on a whim just because a hate crime happened somewhere near where he works.
Still, he and Lennon aren’t paranoid. But they’re all out to get them. Or maybe not.
Enjoy your visit to Zelo Street? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by adding to its Just Giving page at
The same Danny lockwood who has recently popped up "out of nowhere" onto BBC Newsnight and Politics Live panels?
ReplyDeleteTell you what get out of Crewe and visit Dewsbury, do some real reporting instead of constantly putting your bent on other people's work. Trouble is you might have to change your mind about people who dare try to hold Islam to account; islamophobia is such a lazy word.
ReplyDeleteTell you what I think Anonymous, you have never been to Dewsbury in your life except maybe with your pals to have a little demonstration of your hatred of Pakistanis.
Delete@2
ReplyDeleteThank you, I do hail from West Yorkshire.
Also, Danny Lockwood is not exactly local himself nowadays, living in Elvington - like, the other side of York.
Well if being a gammon is a crime, he does have a case to answer.
ReplyDeleteTitty
ReplyDeleteAhh yes: "who dare try to hold Islam to account". That sadly is what is perceived is going on when some galoot who thinks he is a reporter rabbits on outside a court to 1000s of cult-like followers whilst a trial is being held and while claiming to be an "investigative reporter" fails to do the work real reporters do like establish whether there are reporting restrictions or not and claims "something must be done" while in fact, that trial is actually holding alleged perps to account.
ReplyDeleteThe whole "Tommy Robinson" saga is a revelation where we have seen there are 100,000s of people (in the US as well) who blindly soak up internet guff and can't be bothered with facts.