• WikiLeaks stood impassively with his hands clasped as 50-week sentence was read out in packed courtroom
• Judge Deborah Taylor rejected calls for leniency based on the seven years Assange had spent in the embassy 
• Defence lawyer had said that his client was forced to act because he feared ‘kidnap and torture’ in America
• Letter from Assange apologising ‘unreservedly’ for skipping bail also did little to sway view of Judge Taylor
• On Thursday, has hearing about potential extradition to the US for helping Chelsea Manning hack a computer

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Julian Assange has been taken back to Belmarsh prison to start an 11-month sentence for skipping bail as he awaits a hearing later this week on possible extradition to the US to face Wikileaks charges.

The WikiLeaks founder spent nearly seven years living in the embassy, where he sought asylum to avoid being extradited to Sweden over alleged sex offences, until last month when he was dramatically dragged out by police.

He was found guilty of breaching his bail terms on April 12, and today received a 50-week term, just a few weeks short of the maximum possible sentence.

Assange now faces a hearing about his possible extradition to the US on Thursday over the allegation he conspired with intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to infiltrate Pentagon computers.

In a letter read to the court Assange ‘apologised unreservedly’ for jumping bail, but raised his hand in defiance as his sentence was read out and supporters in the public gallery berated the judge.

Prior to sentencing, Assange said in the letter read out to the court: ‘I apologise unreservedly to those who consider that I have disrespected by the way I pursued my case. I found myself struggling with difficult circumstances.

‘I did what I thought at the time was the best or perhaps the only thing that I could have done. I regret the course that that has taken.’

Those difficulties, the letter continued, were ‘compounded’ and also ‘impacted upon very many others’.

Assange was found guilty of breaching the Bail Act at a hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court last month after being arrested at the Ecuadorian Embassy after a seven-year period inside which cost the taxpayer £16million.

Judge Deborah Taylor told Assange: ‘It’s difficult to envisage a more serious example of this offence.’

She added: ‘By hiding in the embassy you deliberately put yourself out of reach, while remaining in the UK.’

She told Assange that by doing so he had ‘exploited your privileged position to flout the law’.

The 47-year-old entered the embassy on June 19, 2012 while under intense scrutiny over leaks of hundreds of thousands of classified US diplomatic cables on his whistleblowing website.

The drastic move came after he exhausted all legal options in fighting extradition to Sweden over two separate allegations, one of rape and one of molestation.

In mitigation for Assange Mark Summers QC, told the court his client had been ‘gripped’ by fears of extradition to the US over the years because of his work with WikiLeaks.

He said: ‘As threats rained down on him from America, they overshadowed everything as far as he was concerned. They dominated his thoughts. They were not invented by him, they were gripping him throughout.’

Mr Summers said Assange’s fears that he could face rendition from Sweden to the US were well founded and ‘not a figment of his imagination’.

Sweden at the time, he said, had a ‘well documented and unfortunate history’ of sending ‘people to states where they were at significant risk of ill treatment including torture and death’.

There were reports of discussions between Sweden and the US over the matter, Mr Summers said. ‘That’s not a figment of his imagination,’ he added. ‘They were reasonable fears.’

Earlier, Assange raised his fist in a gesture of defiance as he arrived in a van at the court as dozens of supporters greeted him.

Speaking after the sentencing, his lawyer Jennifer Robinson said: ‘Today is the first time a British court has heard a detailed evidence of the concerns and fears that led Mr Assange to seek asylum inside the Ecuadorian embassy.

‘I encourage all of you to take time to read those submissions and come to your own conclusions about the reasonableness of him choosing to take refuge in the embassy.

‘This case has always been about the risk of Mr Assange being extradited to the United States. Our focus will now be on fighting that extradition request, continuing tomorrow.’

Also speaking outside court, WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson said the sentence was an ‘outrage’ and ‘vindictive in nature’.

‘It doesn’t give us a lot of faith in the UK justice system for the fight ahead,’ he told a crowd packed with journalists and supporters. Only two weeks short of the maximum is an outrage.’

Mr Hrafnsson said the extradition process is now the ‘big fight’. ‘It will be a question of life and death for Mr Assange,’ he said. ‘It’s also a question of life and death for a major journalist principle.’

Mr Hrafnsson also drew a comparison with the sentence of speedboat killer Jack Shepherd.

‘And may I point out, just in comparison, that the so-called speedboat killer got six months for not showing up in court to hear his sentencing for manslaughter,’ the editor said.

Shepherd was given credit for his guilty plea, while Assange denied the offence and was convicted by a court.

The time Assange spent in remand last month will be deducted from his sentence, half of which will be spent in jail and the rest on licence, if he commits not further offences. This means he is due for release in October.

His hearing over a possible extradition to the US on hacking charges is on Thursday.

Prosecutors in Sweden are also mulling whether to reopen the sexual assault case against Assange, which was dropped in May 2017. Assange denies the allegations.

At a previous hearing on April 11 District Judge Michael Snow remanded Assange in custody and branded him a ‘narcissist who cannot get beyond his own selfish interests’.

The judge said: ‘This is a case which merits the maximum sentence, which is 12 months in the Crown Court.’

Last week Assange supporters protested outside the Supreme Court calling for him to be released.

A large red banner said ‘Free Julian Assange’ while another featured his face and a message of ‘Free Julian Assange! Jail The War Criminals!’

Assange’s father John Shipton told Good Morning Britain he wants his son to return to Australia, ‘for some fresh air and a chance to consider what he’s done.’

He claimed the WikiLeaks founder had spent a ‘crushing’ 18 months in isolation despite entertaining a host of high-profile celebrity guests during his stay at the Ecuadorian Embassy.

Among Assange’s visitors at the embassy were actress Pamela Anderson, singer Lady GaGa, football star Eric Cantona and film directors Michael Moore and Oliver Stone.

Mr Shipton, who spent every Christmas at the embassy with his son, said he wants him to return home, ‘for the sake of his health.’

He told ITV he ‘felt anguish’ for Assange when he saw footage of his dramatic arrest a fortnight ago.

Assange, 47, has been holed up under asylum inside the embassy since 2012 when he was accused of sexual assault by two women in Sweden.

The Australian denied their claims but refused to travel to Sweden to face them, saying it was part of a ruse to extradite him to the US due to his involvement in the leaking of a huge amount of classified documents in 2010.

Those charges were dropped in May 2017, but Swedish prosecutors say they are now re-examining the case after a request by one of the alleged victim’s lawyers.

The United States has also been trying extradite him over the leaks of classified documents through the Wikileaks website in 2010.