Huge shock for Mid Wales couple as Ethiopian migrant sneaks a ride from France in the back of pick-up truck
A couple had a surprise when they found more than bags in the boot of their truck when returning from a trip to France.
Paul Edmunds and his wife Janet travelled back from France with their friends all the way to their home in Caersws in Mid Wales, where they found an Ethiopian migrant hiding in the back of their pick-up truck.
Unknown to the couple, the 22-year-old had boarded the truck in Calais, and gone undetected across the Channel.
It was a surreal experience for the couple, who said they were in complete shock at the discovery.
Mr Edmunds, 59, said: "We had been away with friends for the weekend and were on our way home.
"We stopped the other side of border control in Calais, and the others stopped for a coffee while I got my head down for half an hour.
"The truck was unlocked so I believe he must have got into the truck at some point then.
"We stopped on the other side and fuelled up before heading home.
"We had some goodies and suitcases in the back and when I looked in the back I saw a pair of trainers and asked 'Whose are these?'.
"Then I realised they were attached to a pair of legs!
"We were in complete shock, I've never seen my wife's mouth open so wide, she couldn't believe it."
Mr Edmunds said he discovered the man underneath a coat hiding in the back of the truck.
He contacted the police immediately who arrived within 20 minutes and arrested the man.
Mr Edmunds added: "He was a very placid man.
"I gestured to him and asked where he was from and he said Africa.
"He asked if he was in England, and I said yes, well, I said, you're in Wales but I don't think he understood that.
"When I said England he put his hands together in a prayer motion.
"He was a nice person and sat there until the police arrived and took him away, he wasn't a problem, he was very humble."
A spokesperson for Dyfed-Powys Police said: "At approximately 5.45pm on Sunday, September 18, Dyfed-Powys Police received a report of a suspicious man discovered in the back of a van in Caersws, Powys.
"The van had just returned home from a journey that had passed through Calais and Dover.
"The 22-year-old man from Ethiopia was arrested and handed over to immigration officers."
A statement from the Home Office said the man was arrested by police on suspicion of entering the UK illegally.
He was handed over to immigration officers and "his case will be dealt with according to the immigration rules".
Mr Edmunds said it was a surprising return to Caersws and added: "We didn't expect to have him in the back among all our French goodies we had brought back, it was quite a surprise."
