Check your own cars for migrant stowaways, Border Force chief tells holidaymakers after Brit couple were fined £1,500 for man who hid in their bike rack

Holidaymakers should check their own cars for stowaways, a former Border Force chief has said – after a couple who found a migrant clinging to their campervan were fined £1,500. 

Brits Adrian and Joanne Fenton were shocked to find a Sudanese man hiding inside their bike rack after they returned home from crossing the Channel on October 15. 

The couple, from Heybridge, Essex, reported the migrant to police but were slapped with the large penalty by the Home Office weeks later. 

They have since lodged an objection against the ‘unfair’ fine, saying they are being punished for something the authorities should have picked up on. 

However, Tony Smith, the former head of UK Border Force, has now said that a ‘collaborative’ approach is needed to stop human smuggling. 

He told BBC Three Counties Radio: ‘Be aware there’s huge pressure in Calais to get in by fair means or foul, and we really all need to work together to try to stop that happening. 

‘What you really want people to do when they’re queued up waiting at the check-in desk or having their sandwich, you have a good look round.

‘The migrants are very opportunistic. There’s all kinds of efforts made by the human smugglers to get in and we just really want the public to do their bit.’

Brits Adrian and Joanne Fenton were shocked to find a Sudanese man hiding inside their bike rack after they returned home from crossing the Channel on October 15

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 

Tony Smith, former head of UK Border Force, has now said that a ‘collaborative’ approach is needed to stop human smuggling

Mr and Mrs Fenton said their motorhome was fitted with a state-of-the-art alarm system which did not pick up the migrant. 

The couple, who had been travelling in France with friends and returned by ferry, also claimed that border officials in Calais failed to spot the stowaway during their checks. 

Mrs Fenton, 55, previously labelled the fine as ‘exceptionally unfair’ and ‘frustrating’ as they had done all the ‘right things’. 

Describing the moment, he discovered the stowaway, Mr Fenton said he first spotted ‘a pair of white trainers’. 

‘I then looked up and saw a pair of legs and face attached looking down. I immediately told him to stay there because you fear for your safety,’ he told MailOnline.

‘I’m now parked in my driveway at my house and you don’t know who this individual is. I shouted to Joanne to phone the police.

‘How he got under there, I don’t know. You cannot see how he got under there. I really can’t work it out.

‘He was contorted around the bikes. Feet on the bottom of the rack and bent double over, so you could see nobody from over the cover.’

The couple noticed the man when they spotted ‘a pair of white trainers’ in their bike rack 

Adrian and Joanne Fenton (pictured) were astonished to find a Sudanese man inside a bike bag on their motorhome

Police arrived 15 minutes after being called and interviewed the couple

Mr Fenton added: ‘We didn’t see anything but neither did the passport control. 

‘I was struck by fear when I first saw him. You are wondering who this person is inside your motorhome, outside your own house. It was initial shock and fear.

‘We were really concerned. You hear so many stories and you think “could they be carrying a weapon or a knife?” I thought the moral thing to do would be to call the police.

‘He didn’t try to run off. He dropped his mobile phone and my wife took it. I told him to stay where he was, which he did until the police came. We passed him a bottle of water under the cover to make sure he was safe.’

After police arrived and took the man away, the Fentons were interviewed by officers and expected this would mark the end of the ordeal.

But just over two months later, the pair were issued with a £1,500 fine by the Home Office for failing to ‘check that no clandestine entrant was concealed’ in the motorhome.

Although they have been reprimanded by the authorities, the Fentons believe they had implemented all appropriate measures.

‘The motorhome is fully alarmed. It has PIR sensors inside and all the doors and lockers are alarmed because it’s state of the art,’ Mr Fenton said. 

‘Once we got to the shuttle port, we proceeded through English and French passport control and border force and then one person did a full walk around the vehicle.

The bike rack on the back of the motorhome belonging to the Fentons 

The couple were fined for failing to ‘check that no clandestine entrant was concealed’

‘He even got me to open one of my lockers on the back to double check that our gas was turned off before we went on.’

Once in the UK, no further checks were required and the family travelled back to Essex on the M25. 

Police arrived 15 minutes after the couple discovered the man, who Mr Fenton described as ‘non-threatening’ when he came out from under the cover.

‘He spoke limited English but I asked him if he was okay and he said “yes”.

The man told the police he was a 16-year-old from Sudan.

‘I would have said he was older but that’s my judgment,’ Mr Fenton said.

‘Once he came out he wasn’t threatening. And then you feel sorry for the lad who has hung on while you’ve been driving on the M25.

‘We made sure he was alright. We offered him some food.’

Two police officers took the man away and interviewed the Fentons.

‘They gave us no indication that we would be fined. They said he wasn’t an illegal immigrant because he was under 18, which meant it wouldn’t go to court so I wouldn’t hear anything else.

‘Eight weeks later I got an email from the Home Office border force, saying they’re considering issuing a fine and could we explain the full circumstances of the situation.

‘I emailed them back with all of the information and then I thought nothing more of it.

‘And then, February 23, a letter comes through the door and we’ve received the fine.’

The Fentons believe the man made his way onto the motorhome after they stopped at a French supermarket before getting onto the shuttle ferry to come back home.

Two police officers are seen taking the man away after he was found hiding in a campervan 

Adrian and Joanne have called the fine ‘unfair’ and say it will deter others

In the short drive between the shop and the ferry, they had to stop at several lights and junctions,’ Mr Fenton continued.

‘I was absolutely shocked when I received the fine. I thought I had done everything right. My motorhome is secure and it’s alarmed and as soon as we discovered the individual we called the police.

‘Morally, I thought I had done everything I should have done. I’m struggling to understand why it’s happened.

‘We were both shocked and amazed. I couldn’t see how we could have done anything more than was reasonably practical or safe.

‘You can’t jump out of your vehicle every time you stop at a traffic light or a junction to check it. I mean, you’ve got busy roads, and it’s not safe to do that.

‘We’ve went through the professionals and they’ve not picked up on anything yet. We’ve been fined for something that they didn’t discover either.

‘I’m an upstanding citizen and I do believe in doing things the right way. It seems to me that calling the police is the right thing to do.

‘However, if you’re going to be fined, do you know how that looks to every other caravan or motorhome or holidaymaker across the country? Are they going to call the police? Probably not now.

‘We’ve been encouraged that if you call the authorities and do the right thing, you’re going to be fine.’

Mr Fenton lodged an objection of liability claim on Saturday and has received an acknowledgment. He will be informed of the outcome on May 2.

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