UK police arrest activist over alleged Channel dinghy damage
Police in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight arrested 37-year-old activist Daniel Thomas after he allegedly filmed himself cutting into a dinghy in the Channel. He is suspected of an offence involving damage that could endanger life, while a rescuer was aboard the vessel, according to police and The Guardian.
Daniel Thomas, a far-right and anti-migrant activist, has been arrested in the United Kingdom over suspected damage to a dinghy in the English Channel, The Guardian reported. Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said a 37-year-old man of no fixed abode was arrested on Wednesday night. The supplied report identifies the man as Thomas.
Police said he was arrested on suspicion of destroying ships or fixed platforms, or endangering their safety, under section 11 of the Aviation and Maritime Security Act 1990. The report also describes the suspected conduct as criminal damage with intent to endanger life. Two days before the arrest, Thomas allegedly filmed himself slashing the side of a dinghy in the middle of the Channel.
A rescuer was on board at the time, according to The Guardian. The police statement referred to suspected offences; it did not establish that Thomas had committed them. The supplied material contains no information about whether he had been charged, whether he remained in custody or when he would appear in court.
The arrest follows an incident involving a vessel in the Channel and a person engaged in rescue activity. No further details about the dinghy, the rescuer or any other people aboard were provided in the source material.
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