Police admit getting intelligence about masked Dover protests – but it wasn’t fully assessed

A woman has said she warned police about the masked mass protest in Dover days before it happened, despite officers calling it ‘spontaneous’.

Kent Police has been criticised for its ‘slow response’ after hundreds of masked protestors in balaclavas wearing all-black halted traffic at the port on Saturday.

The force defended their handling of the ‘spontaneous protest’, but Metro has spoken to an anti-racism campaigner who said officers should have been more prepared.

In a statement to Metro, Kent Police admit getting a tip-off late on Friday evening that a protest could take place in the town the following day – but that intelligence was not fully assessed.

Maz Garside, from Portsmouth, claims she told Counter Terror Police about action planned in Dover involving men in balaclavas, led by Tommy Robinson’s ‘right-hand man’ Daniel Thomas, on the Tuesday before the protests.

She told Metro: ‘I could not believe when the police said they knew nothing. They had the intel because I told them.’

Maz, a member of Stand Up To Racism (SUTR), says she was given ‘fourth-hand information’ about a vulnerable rough sleeper, who had admitted in counselling he was recruited to attend a meeting in Woking, Surrey, ran by Daniel Thomas.

At that meeting, it is alleged that people were being asked to ‘take part in something going on in Dover’.

According to the information given to Maz, she claims the people at the meeting were ‘told to wear black, access a balaclava, and ‘had to hand in their phones’ at the meeting.

Given this information, because she was a SUTR activist, Maz decided she had to inform the police.

She said ‘I looked online and I found there was a Counter Terrorism Police site.

‘I found a link which said “report online”. It said ‘how to report possible terrorist activity’, so I completed that online form.’

Maz said she voluntarily gave her full details, including email address and phone number, but claims ‘no one got in contact – nothing’.

Maz made her report on Tuesday September 1, and told officers she understood that the action might take place within the next day or two.

It was then four days later that hundreds of masked protestors arrived in Dover, stood in the middle of the roads in a ‘stop the boats’ protest.

Roughly 200 people are said to be in the protest, which has caused standstill traffic on the A20.

By midday those involved had dispersed, and normal traffic flows resumed, with traffic clearing fairly quickly.’ 

However, the force were criticised as slow to react, with Dover District Council leader saying that protestors ‘caught several agencies on the hoof’

Maz cannot understand why Kent Police did not appear more ready for the action given her report to Counter Terror Police.

Other local antiracism campaigners, who asked not to be named to protect their identity, independently backed up claims that a police report was submitted to police days ahead of the protest.

One activist told Metro: ‘We had an idea that something like this was going to happen.

‘Early last week we received some information that Danny Tommo had had a meeting with lots of men and they were planning to go to Dover in a series of mini-buses.

‘We assumed it was going to be the next day. My information was the police had been informed of this, but they claim it was entirely spontaneous.’

Chris Vinson, Conservative leader of the opposition in Dover District Council, said the Police have significant questions to answer about why they weren’t aware of it in advance’.

He added: ‘Anyone who saw the planned and coordinated arrival of vanloads of men, dressed entirely in black, on the streets of Dover this Saturday, will know that the Police description of the protest as “spontaneous” is utter nonsense.’

‘The Police need to tell us when they knew about this protest, and if they knew about it in advance then why do they appear to have done nothing to prepare for it. Residents in Dover need to be reassured that this won’t happen again’.

Local MP Mike Tapp said: ‘It is important that all reports are taken seriously by the police.

‘I have raised my concerns with the Prime Minister, the Cabinet Office and the Policing Minister that police intelligence functions must be capable of detecting such activity so the police can be fully prepared.’

A Kent Police spokesperson said the intelligence would not have stopped the ‘lawful protest’ from taking place in Dover.

He said: ‘The protest organisers adopted a different approach to previous protests, and as part of our commitment to public safety we have examined our decision-making to identify any lessons, to ensure we are well prepared for future events organised in a similar way.

‘During that initial review, we found the force had received non-emergency information late on Friday evening that a protest could take place in the town the following day. This information was not fully assessed. If it was, it may have allowed the force to consider its resourcing.

‘However, this information would not have prevented the lawful protest from taking place, nor the disruption experienced by the town, port and wider community.

‘We have asked the College of Policing to conduct a learning review to independently examine the processes involved.’

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