Cliff Notes
- Incident Overview: Adrian and Joanne Fenton discovered a 16-year-old boy from Sudan concealed within the bike rack of their motorhome upon returning to Essex from France, prompting them to report the find to the police.
- Home Office Fine: The couple was subsequently fined £1,500 by the Home Office for failing to check for clandestine entrants in their vehicle, a penalty they are appealing.
- Border Inspection Criticism: Joanne Fenton stated that neither French nor UK border officials inspected the bike rack before or after their ferry crossing, which raises concerns about border security protocols.
- Local MP’s Support: MP John Whittingdale expressed his outrage over the fine imposed on the Fentons, asserting that they should not be penalised for acting responsibly by reporting the stowaway.
- Precedent of Fines: The incident parallels another case where a British couple was fined £6,000 after an unauthorized individual was found concealed in their trailer, underscoring a pattern of fines against individuals who report such findings.
UK couple fined £1,500 after reporting Channel stowaway found in motorhome | Immigration and asylum
A couple who discovered a boy hidden on the back of their motorhome after their journey from France to Essex have been fined £1,500 by the Home Office.
Adrian and Joanne Fenton called the police when they found the person zipped inside the cover of a bike rack after pulling up on their drive at their home in Heybridge.
The couple had been travelling in France with friends and returned to the UK by ferry on 15 October.
Joanne Fenton, 55, said border officials in Calais and the UK had not inspected the bike rack or the cover before or after the crossing.
They subsequently received a fine from the Home Office for failing to “check that no clandestine entrant was concealed” in the motorhome, which the couple said they were appealing.
The Home Office said penalties were “designed to target negligence rather than criminality”.
Describing the moment her husband found the boy, Fenton told BBC Three Counties Radio: “As he unzips and unlocks all the covers which are really very tight, he sees two trainers.
“He then goes to have a look and sees two legs attached to it. He calls me and goes: ‘Jo – you need to phone the police. We have a stowaway.’”
She added: “I am so angry. It is so frustrating because we have done the right thing and phoned the police.”
In an email exchange to the Home Office, seen by the BBC, Adrian Fenton, 57, wrote: “At no point did I believe I would be fined by taking correct and moral action.
“This action taken by Border Force to impose a fine only encourages travellers [or] holidaymakers in this position not to call the police but to let the stowaway abscond.”
Joanne Fenton said she offered the boy a bottle of water, to which he said: “Thank you.”
She added he told police he was from Sudan and that he was 16 years old.
The couple were travelling in Australia over Christmas when they received an email from the Home Office which stated they failed to “check that no clandestine entrant was concealed in the vehicle”.
Joanne Fenton contested that technically the boy was clinging to the outside rather than aboard the motorhome.
The email also said the “entrant” was found by an authorised search officer despite the couple saying they called the police the night they found him.
Their local MP, John Whittingdale, has written to the minister for border security and asylum, Angela Eagle, asking her to review their concerns.
Whittingdale said in a statement on Monday: “I am appalled that my constituents who did the right thing by reporting the discovery of an illegal immigrant concealed in the bike rack of their motorhome to police should receive a fine of £1,500.
“It appears that they are being punished for acting responsibly with the effect that anyone else making a similar discovery will be deterred from reporting it. I am pursuing this with ministers and will demand that the fine be withdrawn.”
In October, a retired ambulance driver and his wife were fined £6,000 after UK Border Agency staff found a man in a trailer attached to their mobile home in France.
Peter Hughes and Anne Lawton, from Droylsden, Greater Manchester, told the BBC they had no idea a young Sudanese man had concealed himself.
The couple had stopped at a supermarket before heading for the ferry at Calais last May. UK Border Force staff operating in France checked the trailer behind their motorhome and found a stowaway.