Danny Tommo pleads not guilty to criminal damage after 'slashing migrant dinghy'
Daniel Thomas, known as Danny Tommo, aged 37 and of no fixed abode, has been charged with one count of criminal damage following the incident
Danny Tommo has pleaded not guilty to criminal damage after he was accused of 'slashing a boat in the English Channel' with an emergency responder on board.
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Daniel Thomas, known as Danny Tommo, aged 37 and of no fixed abode, was charged with one count of criminal damage on Friday following the incident at sea.
The 37-year-old also pleaded not guilty for not disclosing to police the PIN to his phone, under Section 53 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.
The charges follow an allegation made to police that damage had been caused to a boat in the Channel whilst an emergency responder was on board.
Thomas was refused bail in a hearing at Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court.
Read more: Anti-migrant activist Danny Tommo charged with criminal damage over 'boat slashing' in the Channel
Read more: Far-right activist Danny Tommo arrested after boat slashed in Channel with French coastguard aboard
Thomas, a father-of-four and described as a professional roofer, was seen dabbing his eyes with a tissue at one point during the hearing.
Simon Pentol KC, defending, 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 simplicita and nothing more and for not acquiescing to a notice requiring him to provide a Pin number.”
He continued: “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 bread-winner 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.”
Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson, was among those sitting in the public gallery for Daniel Thomas’s hearing.
Requesting a crown court trial, his next hearing will take place in Portsmouth Crown Court on September 29.
Several hundred people, largely wearing black, gathered outside a police investigation centre in Basingstoke on Thursday evening, believing that Mr Thomas was inside.
They arrived together at just before 6.30pm and stood on the road outside the investigation centre and began chanting “free DT”.
Most were not masked, though some could be seen wearing face coverings.
Dozens of police officers could be seen monitoring the group outside the investigation centre as the protest continued for several hours.
The demonstration was peaceful, with the group moving out of the road to make way for approaching traffic.
On Thursday evening, Chris Derrick from the Crown Prosecution Service said: “The Crown Prosecution Service has decided to prosecute Daniel Thomas following an investigation by Hampshire Constabulary into an incident on Tuesday September 22.
“Our prosecutors have worked to establish that there is sufficient evidence to bring the case to court and that it is in the public interest to pursue criminal proceedings.
“We remind all concerned that proceedings against the defendant are active and he has the right to a fair trial.”
More to follow...