Man admits criminal damage after slashing inflatable dinghy in Channel

Daniel Thomas, 37, who is also known as Danny Tommo, has admitted criminal damage after slashing an inflatable dinghy with a knife in the English Channel, The Guardian reported. He changed his plea to that charge on Thursday, appearing by video link from prison at Portsmouth Crown Court.

The case began with a trip out to sea. A court has previously heard that Thomas took a boat into the Channel and watched as migrants on a dinghy were assisted by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), the charity that runs the UK's lifeboat service, along with Border Force, the UK's immigration and customs enforcement agency, and the French coastguard.

Prosecutor Kevin Lucie told Basingstoke magistrates court in September that Thomas instructed his boat be steered toward an empty, drifting vessel. He said Thomas armed himself with a knife as rescue crews approached the dinghy.

After the dinghy was slashed, Thomas was heard saying that the migrants should get off the boat and be taken back, arguing that they were on English territory.

Thomas did not change his plea on a second charge. At the same hearing, he reiterated his not guilty plea to failing to disclose his phone PIN to police, an offence under section 53 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. The Act sets out police powers to obtain access to protected material, and the section covers refusing to give up the means of unlocking it.

The second charge remains contested. Thomas's case continues at Portsmouth Crown Court.