A close associate of far-right activist Tommy Robinson has been arrested after a small boat was slashed with a blade in the Channel. Danny Thomas - known on social media as Danny Tommo - was detained on Wednesday evening on suspicion of criminal damage with intent to endanger life.
Detectives had been investigating the incident after Mr Thomas posted a video online appearing to show himself confronting an inflatable dinghy in the Channel. The founder of far-right group Patriot Platform appeared to have spent Tuesday afternoon on a speedboat in the Channel broadcasting his pursuit of the asylum seekers to more than 100,000 people online.
Who is Danny Tommo?
Danny Thomas grew up on Hayling Island in Hampshire, and is a father of four. Prior to his activism, he served as a tank driver with the King’s Royal Hussars, but was reportedly discharged on medical grounds before seeing active service. He is also understood to have worked as a bricklayer, a sales and marketing manager, and ran a website design firm.
Mr Thomas spent two years in prison in 2016, after breaking into a man’s house armed with knives. Alongside two others, Mr Thomas wrongly accused the man of stealing £10,000 of drugs from him in what the judge called “an extraordinarily frightening incident.” The trio ran into the man’s home, shouting “You’re coming with us” as part of the attempted kidnapping.
Christianity and links to Tommy Robinson
After being released, Mr Thomas claims to have turned his life around, attending church every week and “praying for forgiveness.” His bio on X reads: “Trusting in Jesus Christ, Our Saviour”, and several of his social media posts quote verses from the bible as he attempts to show he is a changed man.
However, he clashed with the law once again in 2019 when he was arrested at a demonstration outside Buckingham Palace. Mr Thomas was pictured facing off against police as he participated in a counter-rally to an anti-Trump protest. He was also a key figure in the UKIP party, organising a Brexit Betrayal march in 2019. In 2024, he was a key speaker at the Tommy Robinson-organised protest in Whitehall following the Southport stabbings.
Raise the Colours and Patriot Platform
Mr Thomas was a central part of the Raise the Colours anti-migrant group based in Birmingham. With the group, he helped to initiate the hoisting of union jack and England flags across the country. Mr Thomas also headed up the Operation Overlord campaign - a series of trips to France in an attempt to “stop the boats” for “our grandfathers, for our families, and above all for our children.” He has since parted ways with Raise the Colours, though the reasons behind the split are unknown.
This summer, Mr Thomas launched Patriot Platform, a far-right group with a Christian-driven focus. Mr Thomas has compared the group to the English Defence League - just without the alcohol, drugs, shouting, protesting and flag waving, he said. He said the group “will put so much pressure on the British government in places that it needs to happen that they will have no choice but to listen.” “And if they don’t, then god help them,” he warned.
Mr Thomas claims that 40,000 members have signed up to Patriot Platform, though others have called this figure an exaggeration. In a social media post, Mr Thomas said at the launch event: “The real men of this country now realise and understand that it’s time we did something!”. He dubbed his network as the “people’s army” and the “biggest pushback by Englishmen” since World War Two, speaking on Dan Wootton’s Outspoken show.
Earlier this month, he was at the heart of protests against small-boat migrants, organising a demonstration which saw hundreds of masked anti-migrant demonstrators block roads in Dover. Members of Patriot Platform gathered at the Kent port, chanting “stop the boats” as dozens of police officers followed. Earlier this week, Mr Thomas called on his followers to travel to Gosport to conduct a protest when the Border Force landed the asylum seekers there. Six arrests were made during the protest.
