Crimeupdated 23m ago2 min read
MapDanny Tommo Admits Slashing Migrant Dinghy With Knife in English Channel
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Daniel Thomas, aka Danny Tommo, pleads guilty to criminal damage for slashing a migrant dinghy. The incident occurred in the English Channel and was livestreamed.
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Guilty plea in Portsmouth
Daniel Thomas, also known as Danny Tommo, admitted criminal damage after slashing a migrant dinghy with a knife in the English Channel.
Thomas, whose real name is Daniel Thomas, changed his plea to the single charge when he appeared via video link from prison at Portsmouth Crown Court on Thursday.
Prosecutor Kevin Lucie told Basingstoke Magistrates' Court in September that Thomas instructed his boat be steered towards the empty rigid inflatable boat (RIB) that was adrift and then armed himself with a knife as rescue crews also approached the dinghy and a Frenchman boarded from a rescue vessel.
After slashing the boat with the knife, Thomas could be heard on a livestream saying: "This is what needs to happen to everyone in these boats. Right, you're on English territory, This is England, this is not France anymore."
Second charge and PIN
Thomas pleaded not guilty to a separate offence of failing to disclose his phone's pin to police.
The court previously heard that Thomas reiterated his plea of not guilty to failing to disclose the pin to his phone to police.
Thomas reiterated his plea of not guilty at the hearing on Thursday, and the court withheld his address at a previous hearing.
Thomas could be heard continuing the livestream message: "Get off the boat, you have time to get off the boat. This is not France. Take them back."
Sentencing set for 18 November
Judge James Newton-Price KC set his sentencing date as November 18 and remanded Thomas into custody. The sentencing framework described in court reporting said the maximum sentence if convicted of criminal damage valued at more than £5,000 is 10 years' imprisonment.
The same reporting said that if the damage is valued lower than £5,000, the maximum sentence could be a fine and three months' jail time. The court heard that the cost of the damage to the vessel was unknown to be above or below £5,000 because the boat had been taken back to France.