Danny "Tommo" Thomas, the convicted attempted kidnapper behind the masked anti-migrant group Patriot Platform, has revealed plans to lay siege to asylum centres, including a former Ministry of Defence site in Piddington, Oxfordshire.
In an interview with fellow activist Tommy Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, Thomas said his followers would camp outside shelters for days to prevent officials from transporting migrants. The protesters would operate 24/7 blockades, with members from around the UK maintaining the barricade in shifts.
Blockade Plans and Recruitment
Thomas predicted: "I predict in the next six months, the Patriot platform, with one message through a secure app, will be able to bring five to 10,000 people to a location within a matter of hours."
He cited Piddington as a potential target, saying: "A prime example, Piddington, where the migrants are about to go in. How powerful would it be if 5,000 men, when they know the MO, because we've proven who we are, what how our conduct is, that we surround that camp, we take tents, we sit there for days and we don't let them get in till they can't bring them in."
Thomas, who was privately educated in Hampshire, described the plan as "something that's never been done before in a way that it's never been done before to get results that we've never seen before."
Criticism and Legal Response
Mike Tapp, MP for Dover, which saw protests last weekend, condemned the idea. He said: "It's important to understand that the processing of asylum applications has increased significantly under this government, bringing down a backlog by over 70%. Any actions that get in the way of processing asylum applications could slow down the number of deportations and removals - which is also up significantly under this government."
The plot emerged as hundreds of protesters from other groups held an anti-migrant demonstration in Portsmouth, leading to three arrests: a 76-year-old man from Southampton on suspicion of wearing an item to conceal identity, a 33-year-old man from Portsmouth on suspicion of obstructing a highway, and a 16-year-old boy from Portsmouth on suspicion of violent disorder.
Court Proceedings and Group Claims
Earlier, Del Leon Somerville, 42, of Paulsgrove, appeared at Portsmouth Magistrates' Court, sitting at the city's crown court, accused of throwing a bottle towards a police line at an anti-migrant protest. He is charged with violent disorder between September 5 and 8 in Portsmouth, and assaulting a constable on September 11 in Waterlooville. He did not enter pleas and was remanded into custody ahead of his next appearance at Portsmouth Crown Court on September 16.
Prosecutor Lucy Paddick told the court he was allegedly heard telling officers to "f*** off" as the bottle was thrown and kicked out at PC Peskett, making contact with the officer's right thigh. Assistant Chief Constable Tony Rowlinson said Somerville's arrest was the "first of what we fully anticipate to be a number of arrests" and hoped it would send a "clear warning" to those planning future disruption and disorder.
Thomas, who was jailed for his part in the attempted armed kidnapping of a man in 2016, claimed his group's tactics were inspired by a meeting with a leader from a paramilitary-style group in Northern Ireland. He said: "I went with one of the most senior members of that area. He said when we drove around and all the fires are up and all, he said to me 'Danny, do you know what happens to someone that walks out of the house and comes onto the street with a beer can? They get battered'."
He also suggested the group would follow tactics used by left-wing protest groups such as Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil, saying members carry a piece of paper citing the Human Rights Act and are instructed not to talk to police, but to contact lawyers instead. He claimed the group is "not a white nationalist movement" but a "pure resistance, non-violent, non-confrontational pure Christian national resistance movement to take control."
