Daniel Thomas pleads not guilty over alleged dinghy attack in Channel
Anti-migrant activist Daniel Thomas has denied criminal damage and failing to disclose his phone’s PIN after a livestreamed video appeared to show him slashing a dinghy in the Channel. He was remanded in custody after appearing by videolink and is due before Portsmouth Crown Court on September 29.
Anti-migrant activist Daniel Thomas has pleaded not guilty to criminal damage after a video appeared to show him slashing a dinghy in the English Channel with a knife. Thomas, 37, also denied failing to disclose the PIN for his phone when he appeared by videolink at Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court in Hampshire. He was remanded in custody until his next hearing at Portsmouth Crown Court on September 29.
The court heard that a crew member was on the boat while it was leaking air. Prosecutor Kevin Lucie said Thomas slashed the adrift vessel and was heard saying: “You are on English territory. This is England.
This is not France any more.” Deputy Chief Magistrate Tan Ikram said the case could have been heard in the magistrates’ court, but Thomas elected to be tried at crown court. Thomas was arrested after the livestreamed video appeared online on Tuesday. Hampshire police had previously said an arrest was made after a boat carrying an emergency responder was damaged in the Channel.
Far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson, was among those in the public gallery. After the hearing, he said on social media that Thomas had been remanded to prison and that his legal team would prepare to seek bail. Several hundred people gathered outside a police investigation centre in Basingstoke on Thursday evening, believing Thomas was inside.
The demonstration appeared to pass peacefully, with protesters chanting “free DT”, before dispersing after they learned of the charges.
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