Danny Tommo: Activist pleads not guilty to criminal damage after boat slashed in Solent - has he been bailed?
Danny Tommo appeared via video link at Portsmouth Crown Court this morning.
An activist accused of slashing a boat with an emergency worker on board has denied the offence in court.
Danny Tommo, real name Daniel Thomas, appeared at Portsmouth Crown Court this morning (Tuesday, September 29), having been charged with one count of criminal damage, and one count of failing to disclose the pin to his phone to police.
It comes after an incident in Gosport on Tuesday, September 22, where protesters gathered near Haslar Marina after reports that a boat carrying migrants was heading towards the town. It later emerged that the vessel was heading elsewhere, but "significant disorder" had already broken out.
Thomas, 37 of no fixed abode, was charged on Thursday, September 24, and appeared at Basingstoke Magistrates Court the following day. The court heard how he live-streamed himself out on a boat in the Solent, and was later seen setting about the migrant vessel with a knife.
He is accused of slashing a boat, which was adrift in the sea, while a rescue crew member was on board.
During the incident, he could be heard saying: "This is what needs to happen to everyone in these boats. Right, you’re on English territory, This is England, this is not France anymore.
“Get off the boat, you have time to get off the boat. This is not France. Take them back.”
The case was sent to Portsmouth, here he today appeared via video link from HMP Winchester. His family sat in the public gallery, with the media packed into the benches usually reserved for the jury.
Thomas has not yet been arraigned, and a provisional trial date has been set for March 1 next year. An application was then made for the defendant to be bailed to “central Hampshire” - an exact address was not given in open court.
The defendant’s bail application was refused, and he will be remanded in custody. The defendant, who clutched a Bible during the hearing, could be seen sobbing on camera as Judge James Newton-Price gave his direction.
Judge Newton-Price said: “I am not concerned with the political issues or motivations in this matter and I put them aside in deciding this matter.”
Thomas will next appear in court on Thursday, November 12.