Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Migrant clung to our campervan for 4 days
Cheesy biscuits for stowaway after 350-mile ordeal
A MIGRANT hid for up to four days in a tiny gap under a family’s campervan to sneak into Britain from France.
The stowaway only emerged after Lisa and Mick Patterson had driven 350 miles home to Essex.
They rang the police and gave the 6ft Sudanese teenager Mini Cheddars and a bottle of Orangina while they waited for officers to arrive.
Lisa said: “He was a really lovely bloke and really nice. He must have been so desperate.
“We asked him how long he had been under there and he held his fingers up and said. ‘Four’.
“We said, ‘Four hours?’ and he said, ‘No, days.’ I can’t believe he was under there for four days. I guess he slipped out at night time to go to the toilet.”
Lisa and Mick, both 50, believe the migrant attached himself to their vehicle in a supermarket car park in Caen, Normandy. They spent three nights at a camp- site before travelling across northern France to Calais.
They got a ferry to Dover, then drove home via the M20, M25 and A12.
The 17-yearold clung on in a small space above the mobile home’s rear axle, then climbed out when they parked on their drive in Great Horkesley, Essex.
The Pattersons and daughter Summer, 17, had spent two weeks in France in their 25ft motorhome.
Tesco worker Lisa added: “We went indoors to rest as we had been driving for four hours and I saw him walking down my drive. “I was stunned, I thought, ‘Are there any more of you?’ “I can’t believe we got through border control. There were police standing around but they didn’t pull anyone over.”
The teenager, who spoke some English, made no attempt to escape when Lisa phoned the police. A spokesman for the Home Office said: “Immigration Enforcement was contacted by Essex Police. “A male who claimed to be from Sudan was arrested for immigration offences. “He was subsequently age-assessed as a minor and passed into the care of social services.”
“His case will be progressed in accordance with immigration rules.”