BBC antiques dealer and husband reported migrant hiding in van – and were fined £3,000! B
Couple held responsible for failing to properly secure their vehicle after discovering the stowaway on a return business trip from France
An antiques dealer and her husband have been fined £3,000 after they called police to report a migrant who had snuck into their vehicle at the French border.
Ed Masters discovered the young man when he returned to the UK after borrowing a van to assist his wife, Jane Cave, on a trip to buy antiques.
Despite calling Suffolk Constabulary himself, Mr Masters was told he was responsible for failing to properly secure his vehicle.
Ms Cave, an antiques dealer who features on BBC’s The Bidding Room, and her husband said they had been held up in lengthy delays at Calais caused by post-Brexit customs regulations when returning home on November 23 last year.
Mr Masters had been completing the necessary paperwork inside his van, which was unlocked, when he heard a noise and spotted a man attempting to climb in the back of the vehicle.
“I shouted ‘get out!’ which he duly did and ambled towards the rest of the car park,” Mr Masters said.
He and his wife then got back in the van and continued their journey towards customs.
At passport control a French border officer pulled their vehicle aside and inspected it before waving them through, Mr Masters said.
As they drove home along the A11 near Barton Mills, Suffolk, the couple heard noises coming from the back of the van.
“We heard banging on the side. I wasn’t sure where it was coming from,” Mr Masters said.
While his wife called the police, Mr Masters checked the back of the van, where he discovered a young man hiding inside.
The migrant, described as “dark, shortish, and carrying a mobile phone” then leapt out of the vehicle, jumped over the central reservation, and disappeared behind a nearby petrol station.
The police arrived shortly after and the man was caught within minutes before being taken to temporary accommodation nearby.
The officers then spent almost two hours searching Mr Masters’ vehicle.
“[That] should have been done thoroughly at the border in Calais,” Mr Masters said.
Despite reporting the incident to police himself and cooperating fully, Mr Masters was later informed in a letter from UK Border Force that he was being fined £3,000 for unknowingly smuggling a migrant into the country.
He was told that he should have informed the border authorities in Calais of the earlier attempt to get inside his van.
The couple insisted they took every precaution they could during the trip.
“We all thought we had done the right thing in calling the British police and making them aware of the situation, little did I know of the aftermath of all this,” said Mr Masters.
He said the experience had left him feeling like a criminal, despite his efforts to act responsibly.
“If I had just dropped him in a lay-by and not notified them, we would be £3,000 better off. Utter madness.”
Under the Government’s civil penalty scheme, tourists as well as commercial drivers are liable to fines if they fail to adequately secure their vehicle.
Mr Masters has since apologised for not alerting local police about the initial encounter in France but maintains that the fine is unjust and said it had made him lose faith in British policing.
He also questioned why the French authorities had failed to locate the migrant when they inspected his vehicle.
In the weeks following the incident, Mr Masters faced increased scrutiny from the UK Border Force.
He said he was detained four times at different airports, while his wife, who suffers from a rare neurological condition called ataxia which makes travelling difficult, was left to carry heavy baggage alone.
A Home Office spokesman said: “We are fully committed to stopping people from illegally entering the country and cracking down on people smugglers.
“The Clandestine Entrant Civil Penalty Scheme aims to ensure drivers are taking every reasonable step to deter irregular migration and disrupt people smugglers.”
It is understood the fines are only issued when Border Force officers consider they have “significant evidence”.
Suffolk Constabulary has been contacted for comment.
