Anti-migrant vigilante Danny Tommo charged after slashing dinghy in English Channel

Anti-migrant activist Daniel Thomas – also known as Danny Tommo – has been charged with criminal damage after he was filmed slashing a boat in the English Channel with an emergency responder on board. Tommo, 37, has also been charged for failing to disclose the PIN to his phone. It comes after he yesterday (September 23) livestreamed him approaching the vessel on his YouTube from a speedboat in the Channel, before he was seen hacking at it with a knife as the rescuer looked on. Shorts Tommo, of no fixed abode, was remanded into custody to appear at Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court tomorrow, Hampshire police said in a statement. The force added: “The charges follow an allegation made to police that damage had been caused to a boat in the Channel whilst an emergency responder was on board.”Tommo’s arrest comes after an estimated 300 people protested outside a police investigation centre in Basingstoke, Hampshire this evening where he has been held in custody, to call for his release. The group – made up of mostly men – arrived just before 6.30pm after Tommo’s supporters urged them to gather there on social media. Tommo was seen slashing the boat after the RNLI coastguard removed migrants from it.They were taken off the craft after the French coastguard judged the vessel was “ill-suited” to make crossing and its occupants “were weakened after more than 33 hours at sea in precarious conditions”. Tommo will appear at Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court tomorrow (Photo: Hampshire Police) It said in a statement: “This operation is also carried out within the known and delicate context of the migrants’ refusal of assistance, as they are determined to take all risks to reach the United Kingdom.” The RNLI launched to intercept the dinghy, on a request from the British Coastguard, as Border Force vessels were not immediately available to assist, they said in a statement. A Border Force cutter was then launched, but the RNLI was asked to remove the people from the dinghy “out of concern for their safety and their deteriorating health. At this point they had been at sea for over 36 hours”. It added “when tasked by HM Coastguard we will rescue anyone in trouble at sea, as we have been doing for more than 200 years, without judgement or preference”. The asylum seekers were then transferred to the Border Force vessel. Tommo, the anti-migrant activist, livestreamed his speedboat approaching the RNLI lifeboats as they performed the rescue. Protesters gather in support of Tommo at the police investigation centre in Basingstoke, Hampshire (Photo: Reuters) He then said: “We’re going to take the one with the most on, migrants on it… no violence, nothing like that. We just want to know where this is going. We think it’s Gosport.”After the dinghy was vacated it drifted away from the RNLI boat, before Tommo approached the dinghy as a rescue worker in a helmet and hi-vis jumpsuit stepped onto it. Tommo shouted, “this is England, this is not France anymore” and plunged a knife into the side of the dinghy. He added “right, get off, get off the boat” to the man on it, while another rescue boat came to a stop next to it. Protesters called for the release of Tommo (Photo: PA) Tommo then sped away shouting, “now try and take that back to France”. Most demonstrators were not masked at this evening’s protest – unlike those who attended anti-migrant protests organised by Tommo, but some could be seen wearing face coverings Dozens of police officers could be seen monitoring the group outside the investigation centre amid the protest continued for several hours. The demonstration was peaceful, with the group moving out of the road to make way for approaching traffic.