Adrian and Joanne Fenton were unpacking their motorhome after a trip to France and found ‘two trainers’ attached to ‘two legs’ – which turned out to be a 16-year-old boy from Sudan
A British couple who called the police after realising a migrant had clung to the back of their vehicle all the way from France have been slapped with a £1,500 fine.
Adrian and Joanne Fenton were unpacking their motorhome at their home in Heybridge, Essex, in October last year when they found a stowaway from Sudan. Adrian, 57, unzipped the bike rack cover – which was attached to the back of the vehicle, and spotted “two trainers” which he soon realised were attached to “two legs”.
Joanne, 55, then called the police who quickly attended and took the person, believed to be 16 and from Sudan, away. The couple assumed that would be the end of things, but were horrified after being slapped with a £1,500 fine last month.
An email to the couple said they failed to “check that no clandestine entrant was concealed in the vehicle”, the BBC reports. Joanne and Adrian, a retired firefighter, believe the fine is “unfair” – and say it will discourage others from “doing the right thing” and calling the police.
“It’s unfair. We do feel anger. Because we’ve been fined for doing the right thing. As soon as we noticed this person we called the police so they could deal with things – but now we’ve been fined”, Joanne said. “It makes you think you’d be better off just letting him go. But then he could have gone off and burgled or hurt someone.
“We understand that we’re being fined for ‘negligence’ – for not checking our motorhome properly before travelling back to the UK. But we went through French and British border control and no one else noticed. And also, lots of people don’t even know this legislation exists. A warning would have been nice – or at least communication to motorhome owners about this legislation.
“Otherwise what happens is people like my husband and I get fined for doing the right thing – and others get dissuaded from calling the police.” Joanne said there was “nothing out of the ordinary” about their journey through the Eurotunnel from Calais to Dover. She said: “We stopped at Carrefour to fill up on diesel and get some food and Adrian did his usual checks – walking around the motorhome and making sure everything was secure.
“We also have a security system alarm so that we know if anyone tries to get into the motorhome – and that hadn’t gone off. We then went through French and British border control, who also walked around the motorhome. They both gave us the all-clear. We drove home all the way down the M25 and arrived around 9pm.”
Joanne and Adrian backed their motorhome into their garage and started to unload their things. Adrian started unzipping the bike rack cover to take their bikes off – when he suddenly noticed a person. Joanne said: “He saw two trainers – and suddenly realised there were two legs attached. He called to me and said, ‘Jo, you’ve got to call the police. We have an immigrant on the back of our motorhome.'”
Joanne dialled 999, and officers arrived within half an hour. While they were waiting for them, Adrian made sure the person stayed on the motorhome – and Joanne offered him some water. She said: “I did feel quite scared. It makes you shaky as you don’t know what’s going to happen – if they have anything on them for example.
“But he stayed there with Adrian and I knew he had been stuck on the back of our vehicle for hours, so I offered him some water which he accepted. When police arrived they questioned him, but all he said was he was 16 years old and from Sudan. While the police were there, I gave him some fruit too.”
After the police left their home, Joanne and Adrian thought that would be the end of things – until they received a letter from Border Force, part of the Home Office, while in Australia visiting their daughter. Joanne said: “The letter basically said they were considering fining us – and so Adrian had to email back to explain the situation. That was in November. It was playing on our minds for a while but we didn’t hear back so thought that was that. But then on February 23 – we got a letter saying we were being fined £1,500.”
Joanne and Adrian have objected to the fine and are supposed to receive a response to that by May 2. Joanne added: “If they deny that, we’ll appeal – but that costs £150, and when you add in legal fees, it will probably take us over £1,500. But again, while we understand we’re being fined for negligence rather than anything else, it feels unfair – as we’re essentially being punished for calling the police. That’s the right thing to do in the situation and you don’t want people to be discouraged from doing that.”
The Home Office said that increased fines for “failing to adequately secure a goods vehicle” came into force from February 13, 2023 to “prevent dangerous and illegal journeys to the UK”. They added that the scheme is designed to “target negligence rather than criminality” – and said that people who have fully complied with the actions in the Carriers Liability Amendment Regulation 2023 will receive a reduced penalty.
