News, Essex
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he was “concerned” to hear of a couple being fined for unknowingly bringing a migrant into the UK.
The intruder hid inside the cover of a bike rack while Adrian and Joanne Fenton drove from France to their home in Heybridge, Essex, in October.
They have objected to the Home Office after later being fined £1,500 for failing to “check that no clandestine entrant was concealed” in their motorhome.
Speaking during Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir said it was “important” the situation was looked into by the Home Office.
The government authority previously said penalties were “designed to target negligence rather than criminality”.
In an email to the Home Office, seen by the , Mr Fenton wrote: “At no point did I believe I would be fined by taking correct and moral action.”
The dispute inspired a YouGov poll, which asked more than 4,500 British adults if they thought it was fair that the Fentons had been fined.
A total of 81% of respondents responded it was “unfair”.
The couple claimed border officials in Calais and the UK had not inspected the bike rack or the cover before or after they crossed via ferry on 15 October.
Their local MP, Maldon Conservative Sir John Whittingdale, addressed the prime minister about the row on Wednesday.
He told the Commons: “They reported it immediately to the police, only to receive a fine from the Border Force.
“Will [the prime minister] agree that my constituent ought to be thanked rather than punished?
“Does he accept this action will send a message to deter anybody from acting responsibly in the future?”
Sir Keir responded that he was aware of the incident, adding: “I am concerned about it.
“I do think it’s important that the Home Office look into it, and therefore we will do so and I will make sure [Sir John] is updated.”
‘Phone the police’
Retired firefighter Mr Fenton, 57, had been at the wheel for the couple’s six-hour journey, arriving at home at 22:15 BST.
Mrs Fenton said her husband unzipped the “really tight” cover and saw two trainers, followed by two legs.
“He’s gone ‘Jo, you need to phone the police. We’ve got a stowaway’,” she told the .
She said he told the police he was aged 16 and from Sudan.
The couple were travelling in Australia over Christmas when they received an email from the Home Office, detailing the offence and fine.
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.
The fine referenced asylum and immigration legislation.
