Couple fined £3,000 after finding migrant in van

A couple are calling unfair a £3,000 fine they received after informing police they had found a migrant hiding in their van as they arrived in the UK from France.

Jane Cave and her husband Ed Masters from Broomsthorpe in Norfolk had initially found a man in the back of the van at a supermarket on their way to the French border, and he was removed.

But when travelling through Suffolk on the journey home, they heard knocking and found another migrant and called the police.

Several months after the incident, they received the fine from Border Force, which said it had "sufficient evidence" for the penalty.

Ms Cave said: "It's not our fault. We did everything right."

The couple had been in France on a trip to buy antiques for Ms Cave's business, as first reported by The Telegraph.

On their travels back through France, they stopped at a supermarket and said they had exited the van to fill out paperwork for Border Control.

At this point, Ms Cave said her husband had noticed the van moving despite it not being windy.

He then saw a leg and found a man attempting to hide himself, which Ms Cave said left her "a bit shaken up".

The man was removed and left the area before they were back on their journey to the Channel Tunnel.

Once back in the UK, customs teams checked the van, and they were cleared to carry on, Ms Cave said.

However when they got to Barton Mills in Suffolk, they heard a sound.

"We got to Barton Mills, heard a knock on the van, and thought there's someone in the back," Ms Cave told BBC Radio Suffolk.

"There was traffic at the roundabouts, so we stopped.

"Ed let him out, and I called the police, and he got apprehended at the service station.

"We met the police at the next service station and had to explain for two hours about what had happened."

Ms Cave believed it was a young male who had made his way into their van.

Police questioned the couple about whether they were helping the migrant.

Ms Cave said they were too scared to inform them that their van had already been checked by custom teams.

A few months later, they received a letter informing them that they were being fined.

"It said we are fining you for bringing in a clandestine immigrant," she said.

"[I thought] why? It's not our fault.

"We did everything right."

The couple must pay the fine within the next two years but was paying monthly due to not being able to pay it off in full.

They had the option to appeal the decision within the first two months; however, Ms Cave said for reasons she did not know her husband had not made this decision.

"I hope the fine will be taken off us," she added.

"We'll think twice about going [back to France]."

A Home Office spokesperson said: "We are fully committed to stopping people from illegally entering the country and cracking down on people smugglers.

"We do not issue clandestine entrant civil penalty fines without sufficient evidence."

A spokesperson for Suffolk Police added: "Police were called at approximately 1:35pm on 23 November 2023 to reports that a couple travelling home to Norfolk from France had discovered a male hiding in their vehicle, discovered on the A11 at Barton Mills.

"It was reported that the couple had heard banging from within their van while they were driving near the Fiveways roundabout, so they stopped their vehicle, at which point the male [described as a teenager] jumped out.

"Officers attended, located and detained the male concerned.

"The incident and any further action against the van driver were subsequently dealt with by Home Office Immigration Enforcement."

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