A great-grandfather has been ordered to pay a whopping £6,000 in fines after a migrant was found hiding inside a trailer which was attached to his converted motorhome.
The retired ambulance driver, Peter Hughes, has just 60 days to come up with the large sum of money after French border forces found the man during checks at the Port of Calais.
Speaking to Manchester Evening News (M.E.N), Peter, 75, expressed how “obscene” it is that he is required to pay for the enforcement action.
The retiree has dedicated his life to helping others while working in an ambulance, being awarded a long-service award from the North West Ambulance Service where he met the late Queen Elizabeth. After 21 years, he retired in 2000.
Peter said he and his wife, Anne, 78, were completely unaware of the young Sudanese man hiding within their trailer. He told M.E.N that they were prepared to cooperate fully with the authorities at every turn.
The couple were waiting to board a ferry back home to the UK following a camping holiday around Europe and France with their beloved dog.
Peter believes the migrant was put inside his trailer when the pair stopped at a supermarket near the Port of Calais in France to pick up supplies before travelling home.
A “foot and a leg” were seen protruding from the trailer’s cover before the French police were called to the scene.
Upon their arrival home in Tameside, England, Peter was shocked to discover that a letter had been sent to their house informing him that he was being investigated. The former ambulance technician said he complied with what was required of him and completed all of the relevant paperwork.
He and his wife Anne, a retired carer, desperately tried to tell the Home Office they knew nothing of the man’s alleged attempt to enter the UK.
However, on Saturday, Peter received an undated letter from the ‘Clandestine Entrant Civil Penalty Team’ – part of the UK Border Force – telling him the “Secretary of State has decided” he’s “liable to a penalty of £6,000”.
The letter dates the incident to May 7, alongside Peter’s vehicle registration details, stating: “The vehicle index described above was found to contain a total of one person concealed in it, each person being either a clandestine entrant or person concealed being a clandestine entrant, which was found by an Authorised Search Office.”
The notice says it’s been issued under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999: The Carriers’ Liability Regulations 2002.
The letter states Peter had fully complied with UK border Force regulations yet accuses the 75-year-old of failing to check the trailer before the couple reached immigration control.
“No standard checks were completed on the vehicle or trailer as soon as practicable before reaching immigration controls. Therefore the driver did not comply with this regulation,” it said, but added “there was no reason to suspect a relevant event had occurred” on Peter’s part.
Peter said he would be appealing and writing to his MP, Angela Rayner, who is the deputy prime minister, as well as Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper.
Speaking to M.E.N, he said: “I have not slept with worry – it has really affected me. I think it’s obscene. I feel that I am being screwed – I am just the average Joe in the street.
“We presume it happened in the supermarket car park, as we travelled to Calais from the south of France and slept in the van overnight in a service station.
“When I returned from the supermarket I had to walk past my trailer and had there been any evidence of tampering with the cover, I’m sure I would have noticed. My wife is registered disabled and I am no spring chicken.”
Commenting on the fine, Peter said: “£6,000, no way. I cannot accept paying that.”
The retired ambulance worker says the only good thing to come out of the situation is to be able to warn others that it could happen to anyone.
Express.co.uk has contacted the Border Force for comment.
