Far-right activist Daniel Thomas has been charged with criminal damage after allegedly slashing a dinghy in the English Channel earlier this week.
The anti-migrant agitator – known to his supporters as Danny Tommo – has also been charged with failing to disclose the PIN to his phone when requested by the police.
The 37-year-old, of no fixed abode, was remanded into custody to appear at Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court on Friday, Hampshire police said in a statement.
The force said in a statement on Thursday evening: “The charges follow an allegation made to police that damage had been caused to a boat in the Channel whilst an emergency responder was on board.”
Chris Derrick from the Crown Prosecution Service said: “The Crown Prosecution Service has decided to prosecute Daniel Thomas following an investigation by Hampshire Constabulary into an incident on Tuesday September 22.
“Our prosecutors have worked to establish that there is sufficient evidence to bring the case to court and that it is in the public interest to pursue criminal proceedings.
“We remind all concerned that proceedings against the defendant are active and he has the right to a fair trial.”
It comes after around 300 people gathered outside a police investigation centre calling for his release earlier on Thursday evening.
The protesters, who were mostly in black, and some with hoods or face coverings, arrived at the centre in Basingstoke, Hampshire, just before 6.30pm after social media posts urged them to be there at that time.
The group mainly consisted of men, with some carrying Union flags.
Some chanted “free DT”, with others taking mobile phone footage of the protest.
About a dozen police officers stood between the crowd and the entrance to the police investigation centre but the demonstration was peaceful.
It follows an anti-migrant protest in Gosport on Tuesday, when hundreds gathered in the belief that a boat of asylum-seekers, which had travelled from France, would be brought to shore.
Six people were arrested by officers during the evening, the force said.
The boat eventually docked in Dover, Kent, at around 12.30am on Wednesday after 51 migrants on board reportedly refused help from a French ship and spent 33 hours at sea.
The government on Wednesday said it must “push further and harder” to stop migrants crossing the Channel after more than 700 people arrived in the UK – the highest number for a single day so far this year.
Education secretary Lucy Powell said not every migrant boat could be intercepted after two vessels landed undetected on British shores within two days.
Home secretary Shabana Mahmood said the failure to intercept the two boats was “not acceptable” and has ordered an urgent review by the Border Security Command.
The Home Office recorded 781 arrivals in 10 boats on Wednesday, suggesting an average of 78 people per boat.
It brings the provisional total for Channel crossings for the year so far to 18,565.
Subscribe here to get the latest updates from The Independent
