Three charged with assaulting emergency worker after migrant boat protest
Hundreds of protesters gathered in Gosport after it was believed that migrants were being brought there.
Three people have been charged with assaulting an emergency worker following protests in Gosport over migrants being brought into the country by boat.
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Hundreds of protesters gathered in Gosport on Tuesday after the anti-migration campaigner Daniel Thomas filmed himself going out to sea to try to intercept a dinghy carrying dozens of migrants.
Some of the protesters in Gosport wore black clothing and face coverings, and chanted “send them back”, as it was believed 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.
On Wednesday evening, 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.
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.
A 19-year-old man and a 36-year-old man from Salisbury, who were arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass, have been bailed with conditions until December 22 while inquiries continue.
A 67-year-old man from Gosport was handed a Fixed Penalty Notice for driving without due care and attention.
He was also arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker and has been bailed with conditions until December 22 while inquiries continue, the force added.
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 as 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.
A Government spokesperson said: “The Border Security Command works around the clock to protect our border and will continue to detain, check and process every small boat arrival.”
It had been expected that the migrants would be taken to Gosport, with local MP Dame Caroline Dinenage saying the Home Office had told her it was “increasingly likely that a small boat will need to be disembarked in the local area in the coming hours”.
But the vessel carrying the migrants headed east, later arriving in Dover where migrants were seen disembarking wearing orange life jackets and carrying personal belongings.
Around a dozen protesters were spotted in the area, with local police having blocked off a nearby road.
Routes used by small-boat people smugglers appear to be changing, and UK authorities are understood to have plans to deal with small-boat arrivals further west along the coast than Kent.