Far-right activist filmed slashing dinghy carrying asylum seekers
Far-right activist Daniel Thomas has been condemned by charities after footage showed him using a blade to slash a dinghy in the Channel while a rescue worker was onboard, reports BritPanorama.
Thomas, known as Danny Tommo, filmed himself tracking two inflatable dinghies carrying asylum seekers from France on Tuesday afternoon. In the video clip, he approached one dinghy, which was full of life jackets left by passengers, and repeatedly stabbed holes in the side of the vessel.
As he slashed the boat, Thomas shouted towards a rescue worker onboard, who was wearing an orange hi-visibility outfit, to “get off,” while the sound of escaping air from the dinghy was heard. He could be heard exclaiming, “This is England. This is not France any more.”
After noticing the rescue worker, he warned, “Get off the boat. You’ve got time to get off the boat.” Following this, he left the scene as the worker climbed onto a larger emergency boat.
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary launched inquiries into the incident. Officers made six arrests for offences including assaulting an emergency worker and aggravated trespass at a protest in Gosport later that evening, as reports indicated that a dinghy with migrants was approaching the UK.
British rescue boats were dispatched to assist the passengers after they refused help from the French coastguard. Earlier, the French coastguard stated that around 60 migrants had spent over 33 hours at sea under precarious conditions and were determined to reach the UK despite the risks.
The migrants were expected to arrive in Gosport, leading to a gathering of anti-migrant protesters. Consequently, the vessel redirected along the coast, eventually making landfall in Dover shortly after 12:30 am on Wednesday.
Charities swiftly condemned Thomas’s actions. The Joint Council for Welfare of Immigrants called the incident “violent and dangerous.” Stand Up to Racism similarly expressed outrage on X, highlighting Thomas’s previous conviction for knife crime and branding the act of slashing a boat with an emergency worker onboard as “disgusting.”
Thomas, founder of the anti-migration group Patriot Platform and an associate of political activist Tommy Robinson, has a history of involvement in protests across the UK, including recent events in Portsmouth and Dover, which he livestreams to his followers.
In 2016, Thomas was jailed for two years after being convicted of attempted kidnapping. Reports detailed how he and two accomplices confronted a victim at home, armed with knives, after mistakenly accusing him of drug theft.
UK authorities are reportedly preparing measures to address the rising number of small boat arrivals. So far this year, approximately 17,480 migrants have crossed the Channel by boat, with 5,011 arriving since Andy Burnham became Prime Minister. This figure represents a 46 per cent decrease from the same time last year.
A government spokesperson stated, “The Border Security Command works around the clock to protect our border and will continue to detain, check, and process every small boat arrival.”
