It would have been the last thing Adrian and Joanne Fenton were expecting to find when unpacking their motorhome after a long drive from France.
After arriving home in Heybridge, Essex, late on October 15, Mr Fenton started to unload their stuff, and began with the bikes attached to the back of the vehicle.
But as he unzipped the cover of the bike rack, the retired firefighter was shocked to discover a Sudanese man inside the bag, clinging onto the motorhome.
‘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,’ Ms Fenton said.
‘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 police arrived and took the migrant away, the Fentons were interviewed by officers and thought that this would be the end to the story.
But just over two months later, the pair were left furious after the Home Office issued them with a £1,500 fine for failing to ‘check that no clandestine entrant was concealed’ in the motorhome.
Mrs Fenton labelled the fine as ‘exceptionally unfair’, telling The JVS show on BBC Three Counties Radio: ‘I’m so angry and it’s so frustrating because we have done the right thing.
Police officers were called to Heybridge, Essex, after Adrian and Joanne Fenton discovered a migrant in a bike rack bag on the back of their motorhome
Mr Fenton was shocked to discover the Sudanese man clinging onto the motorhome from inside the bag (pictured)
Mrs Fenton (pictured with her husband Adrian) says she is now drafting an appeal, but fears her story could prevent people from ‘doing the right thing’ if they found themselves in a similar situation
‘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.’
The Fentons said they had ‘no idea’ how or when the migrant had got into the bike cover for their six-hour drive across the channel and up the M25.
The couple, who had been travelling in France with friends and returned to the UK via ferry, said border officials in Calais and the UK had failed to spot him when inspecting the vehicle before or after the crossing.
After Mr Fenton unzipped the bag at 10.15pm and discovered the individual, Mrs Fenton said she offered the young man a bottle of water, to which he said ‘thank you’.
He only had a mobile phone on him, and told officers he was 16 and from Sudan, Mrs Fenton said.
It wasn’t until the festive period that the couple were contacted by the Home Office via email with details of the offence and the fine.
In the email, they were told that they failed to ‘check that no clandestine entrant was concealed in the vehicle’. But Mrs Fenton is looking to challenge this, as he was clinging to the outside rather than on board the motorhome.
Mrs Fenton said the migrant (pictured) only had a mobile phone on him and told officers he was 16 and from Sudan
The Fentons said they had ‘no idea’ how or when the migrant had got into the bike cover during their six-hour drive across the channel and up the M25
After Mr Fenton unzipped the bag at 10.15pm and discovered the individual (pictured sitting on the floor), Mrs Fenton said she offered the young man a bottle of water, to which he said ‘thank you’
The couple (pictured) were left furious after the Home Office issued them with a £1,500 fine for failing to ‘check that no clandestine entrant was concealed’ in the motorhome
The email also told them that the ‘entrant’ was found by an authorised search officer, even though the couple say they called the police the night they found him.
The fine, which reach as high as £10,000 in some cases, referenced asylum and immigration legislation.
Mrs Fenton says she is now drafting an appeal, which she claims will cost her a further £150, but feared her story would prevent people from ‘doing the right thing’ if they found themselves in a similar situation.
She said: ‘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 penalties were ‘designed to target negligence rather than criminality’ and stressed that contacting the authorities is a ‘huge mitigating factor’ in how people are dealt with in these cases.
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.’
