Man who caught migrants in the back of his lorry hit with £12k Border Force fine

A Gloucestershire lorry driver, who alerted the authorities to stowaways when he was coming back from France, is battling to get them to drop a £12,000 fine.

Michael Fletcher, 63, from the Forest of Dean, says he is facing debt collectors and is being penalised by the Border Force “for doing the right thing”.

Mr Fletcher, who has worked in transportation since he passed his driving test in the late 1970s, was about to board the ferry at Calais on 16 September last year when he felt his vehicle move.

He alerted border guards of his suspicions and after a check they found two stowaways in the back of his vehicle.

Mr Fletcher says he was advised by officers that he had done all the necessary checks. But was shocked to receive a letter from the Border Force in February demanding payment of £12,000.

They claimed in the letter that Mr Fletcher was unable to produce a checklist at the time.

But after disputing this, and providing a photograph which shows his checklist, Border Force are now seeking a payment for a reduced fine of £3,000.

But Mr Fletcher says he is wrongly being targeted for doing the right thing and does not see why he should pay for not doing anything wrong.

He believes he has been sent the fine because border guards did not do their work correctly.

He is stressed by the situation and has had to change his job in the meantime and only works in transportation within the UK.

“I refuse to pay for a fine when I’ve done nothing wrong,” he said.

Mr Fletcher said he had passed the security checks at the UK Immigration Control Zone in Calais and was about to board the ferry when he felt a suspicious movement in the back of his lorry.

He said: “The two vehicles in front of me started their engines and I then felt my lorry move which was strange as it was a sunny day and there was no wind.

“I did all the checks. I walked around to the front and I thought the only place now is up on the roof, and that’s four metres high.

“So I climbed up between the lorry cab and I managed to get my hands on top and pull myself up, and I looked over and I could see tape where they cut the roof and somebody had sealed it back with tape.

“So I got down and I shouted to the French border guards and they came back with the dog. I told them I thought I had somebody on board. Then about 30 minutes later the English Border Force came.

“They had the paperwork off the French and the English officer started to take notes and he took photos of my checklist.

“I had a book and I took that photo because I thought he was going to take the book off me.

“He held on to the book after taking photos. He looked at my insurance and all my other documents, my licences and all that.

"That was all in order and then they opened up and they had two people on board.

“The English officer was looking at my paperwork checking my insurance, all that. And then he said it’s nearly time for me to finish.

“I’ve got some officers coming down and I will hand it all over to them. So they came down.

“He ended the paperwork. But he didn’t hand the camera over with the photos on.

“So that is where the photos must have been mislaid because he finished his shift and we had to wait another hour and a half for the Calais police to come in to have those immigrants taken out and let go again before they’d release me.

“The police came, they took the immigrants. The UK Border Force said, 'Oh, here you are. Here’s your paperwork. You can go now.'”

Mr Fletcher said he was asked by the officers where he had parked the night before.

He explained that it was in the Calais registered truck stop that the government recommends drivers should park at.

He says the officer told him they had had found several stowaways in vehicles that had come from that site recently.

Mr Fletcher was returning to the UK via France with a delivery from a factory in Germany.

He says he doesn’t understand how the security did not detect the stowaways.

Mr Fletcher raised this issue with his County Councillor Philip Robinson (Con, Mitcheldean) earlier this year who suggested he speak with his then MP Mark Harper.

Mr Harper had raised the issue with then Home Secretary James Cleverly who was in the process of looking into the issue.

This stalled after Parliament was dissolved and his MP lost his seat and is no longer dealing with his case.

He has since been unable to get the new Forest of Dean MP Matt Bishop to look into his case.

He said: “I just want my issue resolved. I’m now waiting for bailiffs to come take the value of the fine.

“I don’t understand how they can fine me when they haven’t taken me to court.

“The first letter they sent to me was how to pay the fine and nobody wants to talk to me because I’m not that important.”

Cllr Robinson said he had every confidence that it was going to be dealt with.

He said: “There’s no way Mark would not have got a result in that, as far as I’m concerned, I know it was a slam dunk.

“I’ve been only too pleased to play my part in helping Fletch but where we are now is extremely frustrating due to the complete absence of help from the new MP for the Forest of Dean, Matt Bishop.

“Our previous MP, Mark Harper, was very close indeed to resolving this unfortunate matter.

“A solution to this Border Force error was almost in the bag. Mark had acted quickly to involve the then Home Secretary, James Cleverly, and a happy ending was imminent.

“But then, Rishi called the General Election, Parliament was dissolved, and Mark was no longer allowed to be involved.

“Had Mark been re-elected in July, all would have been well and Fletch would have been freed of his stressful and unnecessary burden.”

Mr Bishop’s office confirmed they had been contacted by Mr Fletcher.

However, they say they cannot deal with casework from constituents without their postal address.

They also said they have not received any information from Mr Harper or Cllr Robinson.

“I would be very happy to have a meeting with the constituent and Cllr Robinson to look into this case and encourage them both to contact my team so that this can be set up,” Mr Bishop said.

The law changed in 2023 during the previous Conservative Government and increased fines, new maximum penalty levels and a new penalty for failing to adequately secure a goods vehicle came into force to prevent dangerous and illegal journeys to the UK.

The Clandestine Entrant Civil Penalty Scheme is designed to target negligence rather than criminality – we would expect drivers who are actively involved in people smuggling to be investigated and prosecuted in the courts.

Responsible persons who have complied with the actions laid out in the Carriers Liability Amendment Regulation 2023 are eligible for a discount to their penalty.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We are fully committed to securing the border 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.”

Credit: Carmelo Garcia, Local Democracy Reporting Service.