Walter Finch
AN investigation is underway into how Tommy Robinson accessed a stunning Costa Blanca villa owned by a British billionaire to film his extreme far-right podcasts, the Olive Press can reveal.
The former leader of the far right English Defence League (EDL) has been using the €5,000-a-month property of fashion tycoon Philip Day to promote a series of US and British extremists.
Images filmed at the €1.6 million villa show Robinson – real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – chatting with a string of white nationalist leaders and racists.
They include Gavin McInnes, the founder of a white nationalist group ‘the Proud Boys’, which helped lead the shocking 2021 assault on America’s Capitol building.
He also hosted Laura Loomer, an avowed Islamophobe so extreme that even former president Donald Trump was forced to distance himself from her.
Other controversial figures are former Sikh EDL leader Guramit Singh Kalirai, rapper Young Spray and bare knuckle fighter Danny Christie.
The hate-filled podcasts are filled with homophobic, misogynistic and anti-Islamic statements, including referring to the Prophet Mohammed as a ‘paedophile’ and ‘rapist’.
In one, Robinson supports notorious misogynist Andrew Tate, currently facing charges of human trafficking and rape in Romania.
The villa in L’Albir, on the Costa Blanca, boasts six bedrooms and seven bathrooms, a swimming pool and a state of the art security system.
According to public data from the Spanish land registry, the property is owned by EWM INVESTCO LIMITED, linked to British tycoon Day, 56, through his ownership of The Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group.
The impresario – who used to own a string of high street names including Peacocks, Jaeger and Austin Reed – denies any involvement in the podcasts.
There is no suggestion the Stockport-born businessman, estimated to be worth €1.3 billion, had any knowledge of Robinson using the villa, nor that he has any links with him.
When contacted by the Olive Press, a spokesman said Day was ‘shocked’ and ‘furious’ that one of his properties was being used by Robinson.
“[The management company] will take immediate action if they find that Robinson still has any access at all,” he said.
“They’re very grateful you’ve raised this and very keen to ensure it’s dealt with firmly and won’t happen again”
But Neil Bennett of Maitland PR later explained he had been ‘misinformed’ and Day ‘is unaware of the situation’.
“[Day] has no control or say over the company, which is managed by a professional team and owns multiple properties,” he added.
But when later pressed, he finally admitted Day’s management company takes the allegations ‘very seriously’ and the team are ‘investigating the matter.’
Day, who is believed to reside between Switzerland and Dubai, is known to own a number of properties and businesses in L’Albir.
Curiously, L’Albir is the same Alicante resort where Hitler-loving neo-Nazi Kris ‘Charlie Big Potatoes’ Kearney lived before being extradited back to the UK to be imprisoned on terrorism charges last year.
Robinson, infamous for his anti-immigrant views, has also been hiding out in the area after breaking a High Court injunction in the UK for airing defamatory claims in his film ‘Silenced’.
The controversial documentary could land him behind bars again after he previously had stretches for assault, mortgage fraud, travelling on false documents and contempt of court.
Several British expats said they have seen Robinson around in recent weeks and he is still believed to be staying in the area thanks to an Irish passport.
It is thought that a network of sympathisers and direct online donations have been supporting his lifestyle.
He posts frequent social media photos of his workouts and was even recently pictured posing for selfies with a young fan on Benidorm’s notorious party strip.
He also tucked into an ice cream in L’Albir with Loomer, who was tipped to join Trump’s campaign team until background checks revealed she had branded herself a ‘proud islamophobe’.
Over 40 members of the Proud Boys have been charged for their role in the insurrection to overturn the US elections on January 6, 2021, with four receiving jail sentences so far, one as long as 18 years.
Additional reporting by Laurence Dollimore.
