Couple fined £1,500 after finding migrant hidden in bike rack after Channel crossing

A couple unpacking their motorhome after a holiday in France found more than they bargained for – and have now been fined £1,500 for their unexpected hitchhiker.

Adrian and Joanne Fenton returned home to Heybridge in Essex on October 15 after holidaying in France with friends.

But when they opened up the bike rack on the back of their motorhome, which was covered with a fabric cover, they found a man clinging on to the bikes inside.

The man claimed to be a 16-year-old from Sudan, and the Fentons immediately called the police.

Despite their swift action, the couple have now been fined £1,500 by the Home Office because they failed to ‘check that no clandestine entrant was concealed’ in their motorhome.

The Fentons hope to appeal the fine, arguing that the migrant was not inside their motorhome but clinging to the outside, but Joanne is concerned the appeal could be a waste of time and money.

Speaking to the BBC, Joanne described the moment they uncovered the migrant: ‘[My husband] 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”.’

The Fentons say they have no idea when the stowaway climbed onto their bike rack during their six-hour drive and ferry trip home.

Border officials in both Calais and the UK failed to spot him when they inspected the motorhome before and after the English Channel crossing.

Describing her response to being fined, Joanne said: ‘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.’

The couple didn’t hear from the Home Office until December, around two months after they returned home and reported the migrant to the police.

They were sent the £1,500 fine by email, which said they had failed to ‘check that no clandestine entrant was concealed in the vehicle’.

The email also said the ‘entrant’ was found by a searching officer, even though the couple say they called the police as soon as they found him.

Joanne fears these fines could stop other people from ‘doing the right thing’ if they found themselves in a similar situation.

‘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?’ she asked.

‘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 of up to £10,000 were ‘designed to target negligence rather than criminality’ and that contacting the authorities is a ‘huge mitigating factor’. 

A spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘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.’

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