HGV Driver Fights an £8,000 Fine after 16 Illegal Immigrants Smuggle Themselves into His Lorry

A lorry driver is challenging an £8,000 fine given to him after 16 illegal immigrants climbed into the back of his HGV in a bid to get to Britain as he slept in a parking bay near Boulogne.

 

Ray Taylor has called on the help of MP Steve Barclay to help fight the fine given to him, plus a £9,000 fine given to the firm he works for, saying he is an innocent victim in what is becoming a growing problem for lorry drivers as they approach the port of Calais.

 

Mr Taylor, who has driven lorries for 23 years, parked his 44-tonne tipper HGV at a Total Garage bay at Boulogne on his way back from a run to the south of France.

 

He slept overnight before checking his truck and driving to Calais to take the Channel Tunnel back to Britain.

 

Border guards searched the lorry, which is when the men, thought to be from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Eritrea in Africa, were discovered, and he was warned he faced a fine of up to £2,000 per person.

 

Meanwhile the immigrants were dropped back at the point where they picked up the lorry.