Convicted criminal turned anti-migrant activist 'Danny Tommo' is being investigated by police after he livestreamed himself slashing a dinghy while a rescuer was on board.
It came during a 38-hour confrontation in the English Channel which saw Thomas's hard-Right Patriot Platform activists trying to stop the dinghy reaching Britain.
All 51 migrants on board were picked up by the RNLI being transferred onto a Border Force vessel and landed last night in Dover, where they were taken away in coaches accompanied by a police escort.
Footage shows Thomas – who was jailed in 2016 for an attempted kidnapping – bringing his boat alongside the dinghy yesterday afternoon after the migrants had been moved on to a lifeboat.
Seconds later, a French rescuer stepped into the empty dinghy to secure it, before the activist sliced through one side of it.
'You're on English territory. This is England, this is not France any more,' he told the rescuer. He then shouted at the Frenchman to get off the dinghy and return to his own boat.
Thomas told his followers that the migrants from the dinghy were being taken towards Gosport – where a crowd of black-clad protesters from Patriot Platform were waiting for them.
But they were taken ashore at Dover at 12.30am today after completing an unprecedented 38-hour voyage to the UK from Normandy.
Anti-migrant activist Daniel Thomas is being investigated for slashing a dinghy in the Channel
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary confirmed it was investigating the dinghy slashing video, which appears to have been filmed at around 4pm yesterday.
'We are aware of a video circulating online relating to damage being caused to a boat in the English Channel on the afternoon of September 22, and we are conducting enquiries into the matter,' a spokesman said.
As chaos in the Channel continued today, a packed dinghy was seen leaving from a beach in Hardelot in northern France. In the nearby town of Neufchâtel-Hardelot, journalists found the body of a man in his 20s, reported to be a migrant.
Meanwhile, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is under fire over a second ‘uncontrolled landing’ by migrants on British shores in just two days.
Up to 30 migrants reached a Kent beach by small boat on Tuesday before police reached the scene.
Officials confirmed 21 people were detained and taken to a Home Office facility, where they will be processed ahead of lodging asylum claims in Britain.
It came just a day after up to seven migrants reached another location in Kent without being intercepted by UK Border Force.
Thomas slices through one side of the empty dinghy seconds before a aFrench rescuer stepped on to it
The French rescue worker did not react after the activist slashed the dinghy with a knife
Migrants heading to the UK this morning in a dinghy from Hardelot in northern France
Migrants pictured today on a beach in northern France
The migrants who arrived in Britain yesterday left from Port-en-Bessin, north of Bayeux in Normandy, just before 10am on Monday – before they were landed in Dover just after midnight.
It is thought to be the longest duration of any voyage undertaken by small-boat migrants – prompting the Conservatives to brand the episode a 'fiasco'.
Following reports that the dinghy was to dock in Gosport, in Hampshire, hundreds of protesters turned out in the town – and in nearby Portsmouth – but the effort dissipated after the boat was rerouted to Dover.
Hampshire Police described some of those who remained in Gosport as 'hostile' towards officers and said six people were arrested.
The force said two men from Salisbury, aged 19 and 36, had been arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass; and four people from Gosport – two men aged 33 and 67, and two women aged 31 and 32 – were held on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker.
The 67-year-old was also held on suspicion of careless driving.
About a dozen protesters were seen in Dover as the migrants arrived, and officers closed nearby roads in anticipation.
The dinghy incident raised serious questions over the effectiveness of Labour's £662million deal with the French to prevent crossings.
French authorities, who shadowed the dinghy across the Channel, said they decided not to intervene due to safety concerns.
As tides took the boat back towards the French coast on Monday evening, it was so close to shore another 10 to 15 migrants were able to board, it is claimed.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: 'This latest fiasco shows that the French are not even trying to stop the illegal immigrants' boats in French waters – instead they are escorting them here.
'Our border security has descended into chaos with migrants crossing at will over ever larger distances and in ever larger boats.
'The Government's claim to smash the gangs is laughable and their deal with the French is clearly not working.
'The Conservatives have a plan to end all accommodation and benefits for illegal immigrants, and instead deport them on arrival. Then, these farcical crossings would soon stop.'
Four French lifeboats plus the search-and-rescue tugboat Abeille Liberté, along with a French Navy helicopter, were scrambled to the 40ft dinghy's location on Monday. A spokesman for local rescue services said: 'The boat was in a very bad way, and very low in the water, with just a single small outboard motor to power it.
'The sea was calm, and weather conditions were good, but the decision was taken to escort the boat, without intervening.'
The Abeille Liberté continued to follow the migrant boat yesterday morning and afternoon.
At about 4.30pm, the migrants were transferred from their dinghy to two RNLI lifeboats. Half an hour later, they switched to Border Force's HMC Vigilant.
What more should Britain and France do to tackle dangerous small-boat crossings in the Channel?
A dinghy with at least 60 migrants on board began its 38-hour journey escorted by the French Navy
The French sailors then handed over to the RNLI
Protesters - some wearing masks - gathered in Gosport and Portsmouth as reports suggested the dinghy may dock nearby
Hampshire Police said it made six arrests in Gosport after some protesters who remained on the streets became 'hostile' towards officers
Photos last night showed the migrants making their way into a Border Security Command compound in Dover
The cutter then headed towards Gosport but last night the town's Conservative MP Dame Caroline Dinenage said she was 'pleased' Border Force had confirmed the migrants were instead being taken 'to Dover by water as we asked'.
She added: 'This must now set a clear precedent. If further boats are intercepted in our part of the Channel, they should be taken straight to Dover.'
Hampshire Police said it was investigating a reported slashing of a boat in the Channel after a video appearing to show the attack was posted on social media.
Migrants are normally processed at Manston, near Ramsgate. This incident comes just over two weeks after a mega-dinghy with 120 migrants aboard was brought into Eastney Marina, three miles from Portsmouth's main harbour, sparking protests.
The Daily Mail reported yesterday how a migrant boat reached Folkestone in Kent on Monday without being intercepted by UK Border Force. The migrants then arrived in Dover at around midnight.
Defence minister Luke Pollard said a Home Office investigation was under way.
Fresh reports emerged today of another unaccompanied landing at Samphire Hoe, between Dover and Folkestone.
A boat with multiple migrants on board managed to land at Samphire Hoe, it is claimed. The Home Office has been contacted for comment.
Some 17,480 migrants have arrived after crossing the Channel by boat so far this year, including 5,011 since Andy Burnham became Prime Minister.
A Government spokesman said: 'The Border Security Command works around the clock to protect our border and will continue to detain, check and process every small boat arrival.'