A claim by prominent U.K. conservative Nigel Farage that an illegal migrant who landed on England’s southern shore, evaded border authorities, and proceeded to enter a woman’s home and demand he be driven 300 miles to Manchester has now been verified, despite claims by local media who insisted the story was untrue.
The incident occurred on Sunday morning at approximately 9.30 a.m. in the Aycliffe housing area of Dover, Kent. The illegal migrant had reportedly crossed the English Channel undetected by border officials, landing at nearby Shakespeare Beach.
He then proceeded to head towards the residential area and entered the home of 59-year-old Sue Doyle who recalled the events to Farage in an interview on GB News on Monday.
“I was sitting having a cup of coffee. I’d opened the back door to let the dog go into the garden, and then, the dog came in; I thought I would finish my coffee and go shut the door,” Ms. Doyle told the news channel.
“The next minute, this lad is in my front room. He told me, because the dog was barking at him, he told me I’ve got to shut the dog away, which I did, and then he demanded my phone,” she explained, admitting she was very frightened, as she was in the house on her own.
Her neighbor, Louise, recalled how a distressed Sue came knocking on her door claiming: “There’s an immigrant in my house.”
Louise proceeded to head next door and found the man in Sue’s grandson’s bedroom, sitting on the floor leaning back against a cot, messaging on two mobile phones.
When confronted, the man repeated the words “no English, no police.” Louise explains that she pulled the man up onto his feet by his t-shirt and screamed, “You are not meant to be here,” before ushering him down the stairs toward the front door.
The man continued to insist “no police,” and phoned a woman on one of the mobile phones. Louise said she talked to the woman but could not understand her due to the language barrier.
“Does this mean in future you have to keep the doors locked?” Farage asked the pair.
“Yes,” replied Ms. Doyle, and Louise added: “The schools have to keep the children inside as well because they go onto the school playground. So the school has to go into lockdown as well, it’s not just us residents.
“The kids are not allowed to go out and play. I think it’s ridiculous and it needs to be sorted because this is not the first time it’s happened.”
Farage shared initial reports of the incident on his social media channels on Sunday after it was reported on a number of local resident forums in the area.
However, local news outlet KentOnline published a story on Monday reporting that Farage’s claims were untrue, insisting they had “debunked” the seemingly inaccurate reports.
“KentOnline owes you and the residents of Aycliffe a big apology for saying how fake it was and that they debunked it,” neighbor Louise told Farage at the end of the GB News interview.
Farage also used his daily program to slam Kent Police for their initial statement on the incident which read: “A man is reported to have made a request to use a phone at a property. No offenses have been committed, he is being dealt with by immigration officials.”
Kent Police later confirmed on Monday that officers had been called due to reports that “a man had entered an insecure door at a property in Dover and requested to use a phone.”
“He was initially arrested, and then de-arrested at the scene once the circumstances had been established by speaking to both parties. The man was then detained on behalf of immigration officers,” the spokesman added.
KentOnline has since reported accurately on the events that took police in the area on Sunday, adding at the bottom of the article:
A KentOnline article published yesterday reported that details in the original Facebook post – which was shared by Nigel Farage – had been debunked, following guidance received by police.
It has since been established the post was accurate, with the original guidance misinterpreted. We are happy to clarify this point and apologize for any distress caused.
KentOnlineDover District Council posted letters to residents of Aycliffe on Monday warning residents of “immigrants trying to gain entrance to people’s homes” and wanting “money, phones, and possibly vehicles to get away from the area.”
The council explained that “this is all very unnerving” and advised residents to “keep your doors locked just in case this happens again.”
