British anti-migrant campaigner denies criminal damage charge

The founder of the British anti-migrant Patriot Platform group, which has mobilised hundreds of protesters in recent weeks, on Friday denied criminal damage by slashing a small boat which had taken dozens of illegal migrants from France.

Daniel Thomas, widely known as "Danny Tommo", has built a large online following and recently founded Patriot Platform, a group focused on people arriving in Britain across the English Channel on small boats.

Earlier this month, hundreds of black-clad protesters gathered twice in two days on Britain's south coast, blocking streets in response to arrivals of small boats, which a government minister described as "thuggish".

The numbers of those arriving in small boats have fallen, though 781 people arrived on Wednesday – the most on a single day in 2026 – and the crossings remain a prominent political issue which has dogged successive British governments.

Conservative opposition parties and anti-migration activists have called for more action, but greater cooperation with French authorities and even repeated deaths have not deterred many people from seeking to make the perilous journey.