A couple was left shocked to find a young Egyptian stowaway hiding in their vehicle’s roof box after they returned from a trip to France.
Simon and Sally Fenton, both 57, had just returned from a holiday in Dordogne, France, where they spent the entire month of August hiking and cycling in the beautiful countryside.
Before catching the morning ferry back home, the Fentons booked themselves a hotel in Calais. The hotel’s carpark didn’t have enough space to park Fenton’s car so they parked it outside the hotel on the road.
Mr. Fenton drove from the hotel to catch the ferry at 11 am and then drove another 3 hours to get home. Tired from his long journey, he decided to leave the luggage and go inside the home to watch rugby.
But while he was enjoying the game, he heard his wife scream.
He dashed out to check what was happening and noted a shoe lurking out from the roof box of his car. He said it took him “a few moments to realize there would be a foot [attached].”
He then noticed a small, dark-skinned hand coming out of the roof box, followed by a boy around 5’5″. The mystery man tried to communicate in broken German and Dutch.
The couple called the cops who took the boy out of the roof storage using a crowbar. The Fentons said that they were advised by the police to “stand back, he might have a gun.”
Mr. Fenton said the belongings in the roof box, including a camera and a dog bed, were probably stolen by someone who helped the boy hide there.
Mr. Fenton said of the boy: “He spoke bits of Dutch and German, and we managed to gleam from him that he was about 17, from Egypt, and had raided our roof box to climb in.
“We kept him at bay while I called the police – who arrived, and had to wrench the box open with a crowbar.
“They actually told us – ‘Stand back, he might have a gun.’
“Needless to say, the roof box was completely damaged. We’d also spent a fortune on shoes – sandals, evening shoes, boots – for the trip, and we had the camera and the dog bed all in there.
“And he and his friends had stolen them so he could get into this country. We still don’t know how he managed to actually fit in the box, though.
“We’d have felt him move around on the motorway.”
Thames Valley Police released a statement, saying: “Thames Valley Police was called at around 3pm on Saturday (31/8) to reports of a person in a roof box of car in Dormer Close, Newbury.
“Officers attended and a 17-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of immigration offences. The investigation is now being dealt with by immigration officials.”
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