A British couple, Adrian and Joanne Fenton, were left stunned after receiving a £1,500 fine for something they had no idea was even happening—an unexpected stowaway on their motorhome. After returning home from a holiday in France, the pair made a shocking discovery when Adrian unzipped the cover of their tightly packed bike rack. Inside, they found a migrant hiding, his legs tucked inside along with their bicycles, reported BBC.
“He sees two trainers… goes to have a look, and there are two legs attached to it,” Joanne, 55, told the BBC. “He’s gone ‘Jo, you need to phone the police. We’ve got a stowaway.'” Like any responsible citizens, they immediately called Essex Police. But instead of being praised for doing the right thing, they were slapped with a hefty fine from the Home Office.
According to officials, the penalty was issued because the couple failed to “check that no clandestine entrant was concealed” in their vehicle before crossing the Channel. The Home Office defended the fine, saying these rules exist to punish negligence rather than criminality, according to GB News.
But Adrian Fenton hit back, calling the decision unfair and warning that it might push other travelers to simply let stowaways escape rather than reporting them. “At no point did I believe I would be fined by taking correct and moral action,” he wrote in an email to the Home Office.
The couple, who had taken a ferry back from France with friends, said that border officials in both Calais and the UK never inspected their bike rack or its cover. The migrant, who reportedly told police he was a 16-year-old from Sudan, was given a bottle of water by Joanne while they waited for officers to arrive.
Now, the Fentons are preparing to appeal the fine, arguing that the migrant was clinging to the outside of the motorhome rather than being hidden inside it. They also questioned why their penalty notice stated that the “entrant” was found by an authorized search officer—when in reality, it was them who made the call to the police.
Their local MP, Sir John Whittingdale, has stepped in to help, writing to Border Security Minister Dame Angela Eagle to push for a review of the case. For now, though, the couple is left with a frustrating dilemma—do the right thing and get fined, or say nothing and avoid the hassle.
