A British father claims he was fined £12,000 after two illegal immigrants allegedly hid in his campervan without his knowledge while he drove back to the UK.
Edson Martins Francisco, 45, was returning to the UK from Portugal with his young family when they arrived at Calais on December 17. After arriving early and stopping at a Lidl for 30 minutes, two men reportedly broke into his converted van and hid under the bed.
The father-of-four from Woking, Surrey, was shocked when border officials discovered the men during a search of his van. Despite a six-hour interview and being told he was free to go, Edson received a £12,000 penalty for “clandestine entry offences” six months later.
The penalty notice cited three violations of the Carriers Liability Regulations 2023: not securing the van when left unattended, not using locks appropriately, and failing to check for clandestine entrants before reaching immigration control. Edson, who earns £1,200 a month, expressed disbelief at the fine, stating it was impossible for him to pay.
Reflecting on the incident, Edson said, “They just treated me like a criminal. There was no sense of my humanity or that of my boy. I kept telling them I didn’t know anything about the people.”
Border control officials had inspected Edson’s documents, phone, and van during the six-hour interview but did not warn him of potential future consequences. The letter informing him of the fine arrived on June 15, leaving him horrified and stressed.
Edson, a Portuguese national with indefinite leave to remain in the UK, makes the journey from Portugal to Surrey twice a year. He had arrived 12 hours early for the ferry and did not have the funds to change his crossing time, so he parked his Ford transit and slept in the vehicle with his then two-year-old son.
Edson now warns others about the risks of traveling this route alone and urges border control to raise awareness about the possibility of stowaways. “If you check your vehicle and find them there and face up to them it could be very dangerous,” he said.
The Home Office has been approached for comment.
