Anti-migrant activist Danny Tommo slashes dinghy in the Channel with rescuer onboard

Police are conducting inquiries after an anti-migrant protester was filmed slashing a boat that migrants had used to cross the Channel from France to England.

Daniel Thomas, also known as Danny Tommo, shared a YouTube livestream of a boat of migrants being shadowed by a French coastguard vessel before being assisted by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).

Once the migrants have been taken aboard RNLI boats, Mr Thomas, founder of anti-migration group Patriot Platform, can be heard on the livestream — broadcast on Tuesday and viewed close to 200,000 times — shouting: “Let’s get rid of that boat.”

His vessel can be seen pulling up next to the black inflatable dinghy which had been occupied by the migrants.

The dinghy was full of dozens of lifejackets. Footage shows a rescuer in a hi-vis jacket stepping into the boat from a larger rescue vessel as Mr Thomas approaches.

Mr Thomas shouts: “This is English territory, it is not France anymore”, before proceeding to slash the boat a number of times with what appears to be a knife.

Daniel Thomas, known as Danny Tommo, appears to slash a boat used by migrants

YouTube

Later in the broadcast, he tells viewers that the purpose of his actions had been to prevent the boat from being used again by human traffickers. “That is one boat that won’t be used again,” Mr Thomas said.

Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary said it was “aware of a video circulating online relating to damage being caused to a boat in the English Channel on the afternoon of 22 September.”

The force added: “We are conducting enquiries into the matter.”

Mr Thomas – an associate of political activist Tommy Robinson – was a leader of recent protests in Portsmouth and organised demonstrations in Dover.

The YouTube footage uploaded by the “Danny Tommo” account on Tuesday shows the activist tracking the RNLI rescue vessel in his own boat, reporting back to viewers about what port the migrants might be taken to on England’s southern coast.

Hundreds of demonstrators later gathered near the marina in Gosport, Hampshire, on Tuesday evening following the initial reports that the migrants were en route.

A number of men wearing black, several with face coverings, were at the front of the protest where the crowd chanted “send them back”.

Protester Daniel Thomas, known as Danny Tommo, approaches a black dinghy used by Channel migrants

YouTube

Hampshire police said six people were arrested in Gosport on Tuesday evening after protesters “became hostile towards officers”.

They were arrested for offences including careless driving, assaulting an emergency worker and aggravated trespass.

It is thought that while filming Mr Thomas had come across a group of 51 migrants which the French coastguard said spent more than 33 hours at sea “in precarious conditions” on a small boat.

The coastguard said those onboard refused help as they were “determined to take all risks to reach the United Kingdom”.

The boat, which was shadowed by a French coastguard vessel, left the Normandy coast on Monday morning.

After being collected by British rescue boats on Tuesday and transferred to Border Security Command, they landed in Dover in the early hours of Wednesday morning, having initially been set to be taken to Gosport.

The migrant dinghy appeared to have set off from close to the village of Vierville-sur-Mer, west of Bayeux.

Police said six arrests were made at an anti-migrant protest in Gosport, Hampshire

Getty

Departures as far west as Normandy are rare. 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.

Officials said at the time they believed it was a one-off rather than a sign of new tactics.

UK authorities are understood to have plans to deal with small boat arrivals further along the coast.

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.