Danny Tommo arrested on suspicion of criminal damage after Channel boat slashing

Far-right activist Daniel Thomas has been arrested after he was filmed slashing the side of a dinghy in the English Channel with a rescue crew member still on board.

The 37-year-old, also known as Danny Tommo, uploaded footage on YouTube appearing to show him being arrested, with the officer telling him he is being detained on suspicion of criminal damage “recklessly endangering someone’s life”.

In earlier footage on YouTube, he appeared to shout “traitors” and use a knife to cut the side of the vessel that had been used by people smugglers to transport migrants in the Channel.

Police and protesters in Gosport, Hampshire, after officers closed off the access road to Haslar Marina (Trevor Adams/PA)

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He could be seen slashing and stabbing the small boat after a member of a rescue crew had boarded to apparently take the vessel back to France.

Mr Thomas appears to have also filmed his own arrest following the incident in a video streamed on his channel last night.

The footage shows Mr Thomas getting out of a car which looked to be blocked in by other vehicles at a petrol station.

He can be heard asking police if he can use his phone to speak to his children.

One officer is recorded saying: “The information that I’ve been given… is that you’ve been involved in criminal damage recklessly endangering someone’s life.”

Mr Thomas then repeatedly said: “I understand.”

A Hampshire Police statement said: “A man has been arrested after a boat that had an emergency responder on board, was damaged in the English Channel.

“We received a report of the incident on Tuesday evening.

“Last night, a 37-year-old man, of no fixed abode, 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, criminal damage, criminal damage with intent to endanger life, and conduct endangering ships, structures or individuals under Section 58 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995.

“He remains in custody at this time.”

Hundreds of activists gathered in Gosport on Tuesday after Mr Thomas filmed himself going out to sea to try to intercept a dinghy carrying dozens of migrants.

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said three people have been charged after they gathered at the marina where they thought the boat’s passengers were due to arrive.

A person is led away by police during a protest in Gosport, Hampshire (Trevor Adams/PA)

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Six people were arrested by officers during the evening, the force said.

Shannon Dodds, 32, of Gosport, has been charged with two counts of assault by beating of an emergency worker. She has been remanded in custody to appear at Portsmouth Magistrates Court on Thursday.

Sally Pearson, 31, also of Gosport, has been charged with assault by beating of an emergency worker and a racially aggravated public order offence. She has also been remanded in custody to appear at Portsmouth Magistrates Court on Thursday.

Toby Matthews, 33, from Gosport, has been charged with common assault of an emergency worker. He was bailed to appear at Portsmouth Magistrates Court on November 9.

Some of the protesters in Gosport wore black clothing and face coverings, and chanted “send them back”, wrongly assuming the boat would be guided to the Hampshire coast.

In fact, it docked in Dover, Kent, at around 12.30am on Wednesday after 51 migrants on board reportedly refused help from a French ship and spent 33 hours at sea.

In a video published on X on Wednesday morning, Mr Thomas branded the latest migrant arrivals a “sad day for the country” but argued that pressure from protesters “worked in some respects” because it stopped arrivals coming into Gosport.

The migrant dinghy left the Normandy coast on Monday and was shadowed by a French coastguard vessel, with authorities declaring the occupants had refused help because they were “determined to take all risks to reach the United Kingdom”.

British rescue boats were sent to collect the passengers on Tuesday, and the UK’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency said they would be transferred to Border Security Command.

Earlier this month, a dinghy was met by lifeboats from the Isle of Wight having set off from the Cherbourg area, triggering protests in Portsmouth. It is thought to have made one of the longest journeys of any small boat in the Channel.

Two other migrant boats have also managed to land undetected in the UK on Monday and Tuesday this week, the first time in a year that there have been unescorted landings and the only time since the start of 2023.

A Home Office spokesman said 21 people who landed on Tuesday had been detained.

Some 17,480 migrants have arrived after crossing the Channel by boat so far this year, including 5,011 since Andy Burnham became Prime Minister.

The total so far for 2026 is down 46% on the same point last year.