"This is England" - Danny Tommo denies slashing boat with migrants in Channel headed for Gosport
He was supported by Tommy Robinson in court
Anti-migrant activist Daniel Thomas – known to his supporters as Danny Tommo – has pleaded not guilty to criminal damage after he allegedly slashed a boat in the English Channel with an emergency responder on board.
The 37-year-old, of no fixed address but who grew up in Hayling Island, appeared at Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court on Friday after being charged on Thursday night. He was in court for the incident following attempts to bring a migrant boat ashore in Gosport on Tuesday before a furious backlash from locals resulted in plans being abandoned and the asylum seekers being diverted by sea to Dover.
Thomas also denied failing to disclose the Pin to his phone to police, under Section 53 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 during his court appearance.
He was supported by fellow far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson, who arrived at the court on Friday morning and sat in the public gallery.
The court heard a crew member was on the boat whilst it was heard leaking air. Prosecutor Kevin Lucie, outlining the facts of the criminal damage charge, told the court that Thomas slashed an adrift boat with a knife and said: “You are on English territory. This is England. This is not France anymore.”
Thomas said he wants a crown court trial with a hearing set to take place at Portsmouth Crown Court on Tuesday. He was remanded in custody.
A dozen journalists were in the courtroom for the hearing, while a police officer stood in the public gallery.
On Thursday evening several hundred people, many wearing black, gathered outside a police investigation centre in Basingstoke believing that Thomas was inside.
Dozens of police officers could be seen monitoring the group outside the investigation centre as the protest continued for several hours.