Daniel Thomas’s next court hearing set for 12 November

Daniel Thomas, the anti-migrant activist known as Danny Tommo, has pleaded not guilty to criminal damage and failing to disclose his phone PIN to police. The 37-year-old appeared by video link at Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court on 25 September 2026 and was refused bail. [1] [3]

Prosecutor Kevin Lucie alleged that Thomas livestreamed from a boat in the English Channel at about 4.30pm on 22 September and slashed a drifting inflatable with a knife. [2]

Lucie said the inflatable’s migrant occupants had been receiving assistance from the RNLI, Border Force and the French Coastguard. He told the court that Thomas directed his own boat towards the then-empty dinghy and armed himself with a knife as rescue crews approached and a Frenchman boarded it from a rescue vessel. The court heard that a crew member was aboard while air could be heard escaping. [1] [3]

The cost of the alleged damage remained unknown at the hearing. Lucie said the boat had been returned to France and a cost had been requested, but he could not say whether the damage amounted to more or less than £5,000. [2]

Defending Thomas, Simon Pentol KC said the case concerned criminal damage and the phone-PIN allegation, not an offence of political activism. He identified the amount of damage, whether the incident happened in international waters outside UK jurisdiction, and whether there was a lawful excuse as issues in the criminal-damage case. [3]

The phone-PIN charge is under section 53 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. Pentol said the issues included whether the disclosure notice had been provided by an appropriate person and whether Thomas had been given enough opportunity to respond. [3]

Thomas elected to have both charges tried by a jury at the crown court. He was remanded in custody until his next hearing at Portsmouth Crown Court on 29 September.