Daniel
Thomas pleads not guilty after alleged dinghy slashing in Channel
Far-right
activist who was filmed appearing to slash boat with blade is refused bail as
he denies charges
Kevin
Rawlinson
Fri 25
Sep 2026 14.28 BST
The
far-right agitator Daniel Thomas has pleaded not guilty to causing criminal
damage after he was filmed apparently slashing a boat in the Channel with a
blade while an emergency responder was onboard.
Thomas,
37, appeared at Basingstoke magistrates court on Friday morning. He also
pleaded not guilty to failing to disclose to police the pin number of his
phone, under section 53 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.
The
prosecutor Kevin Lucie, outlining the basis of the criminal damage charge,
alleged Thomas slashed an adrift boat with a knife.
He told
the court: “On 22 September, around 4.30pm, the defendant on his social
platform livestreamed himself from a boat on the English Channel. He broadcast
to a significant number of people a boat of migrants being supported by the
RNLI in the English Channel. It was a single Rib [rigid inflatable boat] which
was adrift.
“He armed
himself with a knife. He slashed the boat.”
Lucie
said Thomas was arrested at a BP service station and taken into custody, where
his mobile phone was seized but he allegedly refused to provide the pin code.
When
asked about the boat, Lucie confirmed he was unsure if the damage was worth
more or less than £5,000, and said: “Unfortunately, it is the case that it did
go back to France. We have asked for the cost of the damage.”
Thomas,
also known as Danny Tommo, was refused bail. The father of four, described as a
professional roofer, was seen dabbing his eyes with a tissue at one point
during the hearing.
He
appeared for the hearing via video link, wearing a black top and grey coat, and
spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth. He was supported in court by
his teenage son, as well as fellow far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon,
also known as Tommy Robinson. Other supporters were placed in a separate room
to watch a live stream from the court, a routine measure when interest in a
case outstrips the space available in a courtroom.
There was
a visible police presence, with an officer in the public gallery of the
courtroom, another at the courtroom door and third in the seated waiting area
outside the courtroom.
On
Thursday evening, several hundred people, many wearing black, gathered outside
a police investigation centre in Basingstoke, apparently in the belief Thomas
was inside. Dozens of police officers could be seen monitoring the group as the
protest continued for several hours.
Thomas
has said he would like a crown court trial. A hearing will take place in
Portsmouth crown court on Tuesday 29 September.
His
lawyer, Simon Pentol KC, said: “This defendant is not charged with an offence
of political activism, whether you agree with it or not, that is not the issue.
He has elected crown court trial over criminal damage simpliciter and nothing
more, and for not acquiescing to a notice requiring him to provide a pin
number.”
He added:
“I invite this court to bear in mind it’s dealing with a 37-year-old man who
lives with his long-standing partner and their four children, all aged between
18 and three, his partner is pregnant once again, four months. She is a
full-time mother, he is the full-time provider, or breadwinner, as they used to
say.
“He is a
professional roofer by trade. He is, therefore, having to look after his family
who, through his political activism, have been under huge threat and due to
publication of his mother’s home address, she has had to move home.”
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