Police officers were called to Heybridge after Adrian and Joanne Fenton discovered a migrant on he b (Image: Facebook)
Essex couple Adrian and Joanne Fenton were forced to call the police after a Sudanese migrant clung on to the back of their motorhome as they drove from France back to their home in Heybridge. It was only when the couple arrived at their home near Maldon and Adrian, a retired firefighter, opened up a bike bag on the back of the motorhome, that the migrant was revealed.
Joanne said: “He goes to take the bikes off and as he unzips and unlocks the cover, which is really tight, he sees two trainers and suddenly he thinks to himself ‘I haven’t left any trainers on here’ and then he sees there are two legs attached to it. He then called me, and I was at the front unloading and said, ‘Joanne you need to call the police, we have a stowaway’.” After the police arrived on the scene, they detained the unidentified man, and the couple believed that was the end of the ordeal.
A police officer confronts the man (Image: Facebook)
However, just over two months later, the pair were left stunned after the Home Office slapped them with a £1,500 fine for failing to “check that no clandestine entrant was concealed” in the motorhome.
Joanne complained that the fine was “exceptionally unfair”, telling the : “I’m so angry and it’s so frustrating because we have done the right thing.
“We have phoned the police. It’s dangerous enough when you drive through France, and you can ask anyone who drives through France and comes up to the borders.
“These clandestines are everywhere. So, to stop and go outside and check your vehicle all the time is dangerous. How can you do that? It’s on a bike rack. It’s not internal”, she added.
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The couple had been in France (Image: Facebook)
The enraged woman is now drafting an appeal, which she says will cost another £150. She asked rhetorically: “How safe is it for the everyday holidaymaker to get out of their vehicle, whether they are towing a caravan, whether driving a van, whether driving a motor home? How safe is it for us to keep getting out and checking that they are not grabbing underneath? It’s impossible.
“We will appeal, but it sounds like we will not get anywhere. We will just be wasting more money and we are going to end up having to pay the fine.
“It’s the legit people like my husband and I that are coming through and have done the right thing that are getting fined for it. Where is the justification in that?”
The Home Office said that penalties were “designed to target negligence rather than criminality”, adding that contacting the authorities is a “mitigating factor” in how cases are handled.
A spokesperson said: “Responsible persons who have fully complied with the actions laid out in the carriers liability amendment regulations of 2023 will receive a reduced penalty. The scheme is designed to target negligence, rather than criminality.
“We would expect drivers who are actively involved in people smuggling to be investigated and prosecuted in the courts. Increased fines, new maximum penalty levels and a new penalty for failing to adequately secure a goods vehicle came into force on February 13, 2023, to prevent dangerous and illegal journeys to the UK.”