Concluding his remarks, Mr Eardley said, with an expression of disbelief on Robinson’s face: “This is not about Mr Yaxley-Lennon’s political views. It’s not even a situation directly related to freedom of expression.

“This is a case about disobedience of a court order and the undermining of the rule of law that goes with that.”

Sasha Wass KC, for Robinson, told the court he was “a journalist by profession” and “specialised in controversial issues, many of which the mainstream media have failed to cover”.

He told the court the production of Silenced was financed by Infowars, a company run by American Alex Jones, who claimed the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre was a hoax.

Ms Wass said: “He (Robinson) acted the way he did and pleads guilty because he passionately believes in freedom of expression, a free press and the overwhelming desire to express the truth.

“The defendant believes that the public has the right to all information, not just that provided by the mainstream media, so that the public can make up its own mind. “Having said all that, he acknowledges the violations as stated but wants me to make it clear on his behalf that he always follows his principles.”

Ms Wass said Robinson was “entitled to a significant reduction” in his sentence because he had pleaded guilty and was likely to be placed in “solitary confinement” in prison.

He said his mental health had suffered after spending the entirety of his last three-and-a-half-year sentence in solitary confinement to protect himself from other inmates.

Robinson stood to hear the sentence handed down by Mr Justice Johnson, who told the court: “This morning, the defendant admitted that he had breached the injunction by methods prescribed by the Attorney General.”

He said Robinson’s offenses were of “medium to high” seriousness and his previous contempt of court convictions were “aggravating factors”.

Mr Justice Johnson said “prison conditions will have an impact on the defendant” and his respect of the court order from 2021 to 2023 were mitigating factors.

But he added that Robinson “showed no remorse” and acted “as if he considered himself above the law.” He said: “Each breach is so serious that a non-custodial sentence cannot be justified.”

He sentenced Robinson to 18 months in prison, excluding the three days he had spent in custody since Friday.