Danny Tommo Admits Criminal Damage After Slashing Migrant Boat

Activist Daniel Thomas, also known as Danny Tommo, has admitted criminal damage after using a knife to slash a migrant dinghy in the English Channel.

The 37-year-old changed his plea to guilty on the single criminal damage charge when he appeared via video link from prison at Portsmouth Crown Court on Thursday.

The court previously heard that Thomas had taken a boat into the English Channel, where he observed migrants aboard a dinghy being assisted by the RNLI, Border Force and the French Coastguard.

Thomas admitted using a knife to damage the dinghy, which had French personnel on board. He is due to be sentenced at Portsmouth Crown Court on 18 November.

At an earlier hearing at Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court in September, prosecutor Kevin Lucie said Thomas had instructed his boat to approach an empty rigid inflatable boat (RIB) that was drifting in the water.

He then armed himself with a knife as rescue crews approached the dinghy and a Frenchman boarded it from a rescue vessel.

After slashing the boat, Thomas was heard on a livestream making remarks directed at those aboard migrant boats. He said: “This is what needs to happen to everyone in these boats.”

He also told those on the dinghy that they were in English territory and demanded that they get off the boat and be taken back.

Thomas also faces a separate allegation of failing to disclose his phone’s PIN to police. During Thursday’s court appearance, he maintained his not-guilty plea to that charge.

He will return to Portsmouth Crown Court on 18 November for sentencing on the criminal damage offence.