Couple Who Discover Migrant In Motorhome Are Fined

[naomi24]

//A couple who discovered a migrant had clung to the back of their vehicle all the way home from France have been issued a £1,500 fine.

Adrian and Joanne Fenton said they called police when they found the person zipped inside the cover of a bike rack at their home in Heybridge, Essex, in October.

They later received a fine from the Home Office for failing to "check that no clandestine entrant was concealed" in the motorhome. The pair said they were drafting an appeal.//

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c17q9lrl57ro

 

Fined for being honest - a sure way to stop people reporting unwelcome stowaways.

[ynnafymmi]

Well at least the £1500 fine will pay for the fake"refugee"to live in a luxury hotel for a couple of days.

[Gizmonster]

Absolute madness!!

And the moral of the story is .... if you end up in a similar situation, let them get away whilst you simply look the other way, in order to avoid a fine ..... yea that sounds about right!!

[barry1010]

Blerdy ridiculous, I know the law is there for a reason, to discourage people smugglers, but it should not apply to people who call the police when they discover they have a stowaway.

[davebro3]

reminds me of Nero - fiddling while Rome burned...

[Cloverjo]

You would hope common sense would prevail, and the fine be cancelled. I hope so, anyway. 

[Stableford]

Insanity!

[DDIL]

I feel for them.

When I used to travel via Calais several times a year, I am sure I was provided with a list of checks and one of them was to check for migrants.

[Old_Geezer]

I was sceptical when they started fining truckers for being fooled by illegals managing to hide on their vehicle, but I convinced myself that it was a commercial issue and maybe, just maybe, it could be justified as something the company ought to be taking care of.

 

When it's applied to casual members of the public inadvertently getting a stowaway then it doesn't even seem to have the, "it's a business risk", excuse. It's even clearer that they are likely victims not perpetrators.

 

The point that it'll just encourage finding a stowaway to be ignored, is very valid. The legislation needs reviewing, and leniency applied in the meanwhile.

[ToraToraTora]

It'll be some 5C lefty trobiscite jobsworth making a point. Yes technically correct but use a bit of common!

[barry1010]

They should appeal on the grounds that they did not fail to secure their vehicle - the migrant was hiding outside of it.  Hope it's quashed

[youngmafbog]

Difficult one as the law was put in place to stop the excuses of people who were people smuggling.

It does seem a bit harsh and the reality, as pointed out above, is that people will just let them run off.  After all the authorities do just that anyway (after giving them clothes, phones and a4* hotel toom gratis).

[vulcan42]

This government gets more ridiculous by the day. The couple said the bicycle cover was not inspected either in France or the uk. So because these border guards are not doing their inspections properly, the traveller has to pay the fine. What's the point of having these inspectors if they don't inspect?

[tommy39]

they have the same problem as the government,they can't secure their camper van,the gov can't secure the country

[elliemay1]

They are going to appeal it, hopefully they'll be successful 

[barry1010]

They're not the only ones to be fined after the calling the police in these circumstances - it happened under the previous government, too.  

This couple got a £6k fine reduced to £150 with the help of Angela Rayner when they were caught with an immigrant in their trailer last May https://www.gbnews.com/news/pensioner-6k-fine-reduced-illegal-migrant-snuck-camping-trailer

[douglas9401]

After hearing her on the radio earlier I hope Mrs Fenton has enough sense to get someone to speak on her behalf.

She seemed a bit exciteable and shouty to be addressing a court.

[elliemay1]

I suppose she's still in shock at the unfairness of it

[Clone]

Another gang Smashed!

[davebro3]

^^^ 🤣  (the only one!)