Activist Danny Tommo to Stand Trial Over Dover Migrant Centre Breach

Anti-migrant activist Daniel Thomas, who operates online under the name Danny Tommo, will stand trial next year accused of entering a restricted zone at the Western Jet Foil migrant processing facility in Dover, Kent, alongside multiple charges of harassment and obstruction.

Thomas, 37, of no fixed address, appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday via video link from HMP Winchester for a brief case management hearing.

The court heard that he had previously entered a guilty plea to going into a restricted zone at the Western Jet Foil facility on 31 March.

However, that initial plea was formally vacated after the court accepted that Thomas may have received incorrect legal advice from his solicitor at the time of his initial appearance.

Asked to re-enter his plea, the defendant formally denied the restricted zone charge.

The prosecution alleges that the charges arise from incidents in late March and early April 2026, when Thomas reportedly breached security perimeters at the Port of Dover to film arriving migrant vessels, stream live commentary and direct verbal abuse toward arriving asylum seekers and facility personnel.

In addition to the restricted zone charge, Thomas entered not guilty pleas to a broad sequence of related summary allegations in Dover, including using threatening or abusive words or behaviour on 1 April, obstructing a person engaged in a lawful activity on 6 April, entering or remaining in Dover Docks without lawful business or permission on both 1 April and 6 April, and racially aggravated harassment alleged to have occurred on 1 April.

Speaking ahead of his court appearances regarding his activities on the south coast, Thomas maintained that his actions were conducted as part of activism aimed at exposing conditions at Dover.

The court remanded Thomas in custody ahead of a full three-day trial scheduled to take place at Westminster Magistrates’ Court from 1 June to 3 June next year, with a further preliminary case management hearing listed for 18 November.

The defendant faces separate, ongoing criminal proceedings across other jurisdictions, including charges of criminal damage relating to an incident involving an English Channel inflatable dinghy and offences under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act for allegedly failing to disclose a mobile phone PIN to police, which are scheduled for trial at Portsmouth Crown Court.