Starmer: Home Office to examine case of couple fined over immigrant in bike rack
Conservative former minister Sir John Whittingdale, who raised the case in the Commons, said the couple should be ‘thanked rather than punished’.
Sir Keir Starmer has said the Home Office will look into the case of a couple who were fined £1,500 after they found an “immigrant” in their motorhome’s bike rack.
After returning home to Essex from France, Joanne and Adrian Fenton found a young man under the cover of their bike rack.
The couple reported the incident to the police and have since been issued a penalty by the Home Office.
Mr and Mrs Fenton told the BBC they had been vigilant and border officials who checked the vehicle in Calais had not found the man.
Conservative former minister Sir John Whittingdale, who raised the case in the Commons, said the couple should be “thanked rather than punished”.
At Prime Minister’s Questions, the MP for Maldon said: “Will the Prime Minister look at the case of my constituents, Mr And Mrs Adrian Fenton, who returned home from visiting France in their motorhome to discover an illegal immigrant concealed in the bike rack.
“They reported it immediately to the police, only to receive a fine from the Border Force of £1,500.
“Will he agree that my constituents ought to be thanked rather than punished? And does he accept that this action will send a message to deter anybody from acting responsibly in the future?”
The Prime Minister replied: “Can I thank him for raising this important case on behalf of his constituents? I’ve seen some of the details, and I am concerned about it, and I do think it’s important, as he says, that the Home Office look into it, and therefore we will do so.
“And I will make sure that he is updated in relation to that in due course.”
The couple has lodged an objection to the penalty and could appeal, depending on the outcome of the objection, according to the BBC.