Key facts
- Daniel Thomas, 37, changed his plea to guilty on the criminal damage charge at Portsmouth Crown Court.
- Thomas admitted using a knife on the dinghy, which had French personnel on board.
- Thomas will be sentenced at Portsmouth Crown Court on November 18.
- Thomas reiterated a not guilty plea to failing to disclose the pin to his phone to police.
Activist Daniel Thomas, also known as Danny Tommo, admitted criminal damage after slashing a migrant dinghy with a knife in the English Channel, changing his plea at Portsmouth Crown Court on Thursday. The 37-year-old appeared via video link from prison.
A court previously heard that Thomas took a boat into the English Channel and observed the migrant occupants of a dinghy being assisted by the RNLI lifeboat charity, Border Force and the French Coastguard. Prosecutor Kevin Lucie told Basingstoke Magistrates' Court in September that the defendant instructed his boat be steered towards the empty rigid inflatable boat that was adrift and then armed himself with a knife as rescue crews approached and a Frenchman boarded from a rescue vessel.
After slashing the boat, Thomas could be heard on a livestream saying: "This is what needs to happen to everyone in these boats." He will be sentenced at Portsmouth Crown Court on November 18. He reiterated his not guilty plea to failing to disclose the pin to his phone to police.