Tommy Robinson has been slammed as ‘utterly despicable’ by a police and crime commissioner for wrongly stating that two Somalian migrants had ‘murdered’ a British grandmother walking her dog.
The far-right activist who has been widely condemned for his inflammatory social media posts stoking race riots across the UK made his incendiary false claim about the murder while on holiday in Cyprus.
He referenced the murder of mother-of-six Anita Rose, 57, who died on July 28, four days after being found with serious head, brain and face injuries on a track near her home in Brantham, Suffolk.
Police have so far separately arrested a 45-year-old man from Ipswich and a man in his 20s from Brantham on suspicion of her murder, but have released both on police bail, pending further inquiries.
An unfounded and false rumour began to be spread on X, formerly Twitter, earlier this month that the two suspects were Somalian refugees.
Detectives continued to probe the death of Anita Rose, 57, was allegedly murdered after leaving her home in Brantham, Suffolk last month
Among those posting on social media about the case was Mr Robinson (pictured outside Westminster Magistrates’ Court), the prominent far-right activist and English Defence League founder
Robinson, 41, repeated the lie in an online video on his X account which was posted at 7.45am on Sunday and has so far been seen by 7.3million people.
Filming himself on the patio outside his room at his luxury five-star hotel on the outskirts of the party resort Ayia Napa, he mentioned the murder while blaming the Government for ‘mobs of armed Muslims in every city across the country’.
He ranted: ‘As the media and politicians try and blame me for currently what is happening in our country, it was not my policies that allowed two Somalians into the country who murdered a British grandmother last week in Ipswich.
‘That wasn’t my policies. It is not my policies that opened our borders to Pakistani immigration and made our police stand on whilst a generation of our daughters were raped.
‘I didn’t do that that. That’s your failures, your policies. What you are witnessing now on the street is years of resentment built up by you trying to hide the problems. I didn’t allow terrorists and jihadists to come in. I didn’t fill up the hotels.’
But Suffolk’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Tim Passmore who was voted in as a Conservative, furiously denounced Robinson’s false information.
He said in a statement: ‘The investigation into this murder is continuing and spreading such false information on social media is utterly despicable. I can categorically state the comments are wrong.
‘To behave in such an irresponsible manner bearing in mind the current disorder and violence elsewhere in the country beggars belief and everything will be done to find the perpetrators and punish them accordingly.
He added: ‘I have personally raised this matter with the Home Secretary (Yvette Cooper) and am pleased to say she is fully supportive of this approach.
‘Lastly, do such people have any sense of humanity bearing in mind what the friends and relatives of the deceased are going through at such a difficult time for them?
CCTV images issued by Suffolk Police of Anita Rose before she was found in Brantham
Police officers search fields in Brantham, Suffolk, on July 29, near where Anita Rose was found
‘This is the time for us to pull together and support each other in Suffolk and not let anything divide us.’
Suffolk Police added in a statement: ‘As previously stated in response to misinformation being circulated online, Suffolk police can confirm that the arrested and since bailed individuals in connection with the Anita Rose case are not Somali migrants.
‘We typically wouldn’t comment on a nationality and the only reason we have in this instance is because it’s a dangerous piece of misinformation, which we will continue to dispel.’
Former English Defence League founder and leader Robinson apparently picked up the false line about Somalian suspects from a far right group called Europe Invasion which posted the lie last Friday.
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The group’s post on its X account, so far seen by 2.5 million people, carried a picture of Ms Rose with a message saying: ‘This woman’s name is Anita Rose. Anita was a mother of 6 children and also a grandmother. She loved dogs and animals very much. She always helped shelters.
‘One day she went out to walk her dog in Ipswich. Two Somali immigrants who followed her attacked Anita to rob her and she suffered a serious blow to her head. Anita lost her fight for life. She is no longer with us.’
Robinson doubled down on his false narrative by referencing the murder again in a video interview with leading US conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on his InfoWars channel.
Speaking from inside his hotel room, he stated: ‘Last week a British pensioner female was beaten to death by two Somali migrants.’
On Saturday at 3.50pm, he also posted a video of a confrontation in Stoke and claimed two protesters had been stabbed ‘by Muslims’. The post was viewed two million times on X.
Anita Rose took her dog for a walk at about 5am on July 28 and was found at about 6.25am
Two hours later, Staffordshire Police confirmed the information was false and that those injured were hit by something thrown by their own side.
The murder of Ms Rose was also wrongly referenced by right-wing actor Laurence Fox when he posted a list of acts of violence he allegedly committed by immigrants under the caption: ‘Anyone else had enough?’
Ms Rose left her home in Brantham with her springer spaniel called Bruce at 5.30am on July 24 and trekked three miles before being allegedly attacked.
Her two-year-old dog was unharmed beside her when a cyclist found her seriously injured on a track between a sewage works and the main Ipswich to London railway line.
She was taken to Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, where she remained in a critical condition until she died four days later.
Ms Rose’s iPhone and a pink zip up jacket which she was filmed wearing by a doorbell camera soon after she left her home were missing when she was found.
Police have since recovered her iPhone, but her jacket remains missing.
As well as the two men arrested on suspicion of her murder, a 37-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods and was released on police bail after being quizzed.
MailOnline exclusive revealed on Sunday that Robinson was fanning the flames of riots across the UK from the safety of his sun lounger at his hotel, sending out a constant stream of posts to his 900,000 followers on Twitter.
It is believed that he may now have left Cyprus, but his current whereabouts are not known
Mobs of far right thugs have been chanting his name in recent days while attacking migrant hostels and police.
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