As the Road Haulage Association says, proving your innocence when
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stowaways are found is based around a "layered defence". Don't rely on one check, and insist that your drivers fill out the Code of Practice checklist the RHA provides, as agreed with the Home Office. This will ultimately be your greatest defence against any fine levied.
You must show an effective checking system is in place. CO, checks are not infallible, and, in the absence of a port official providing you with a receipt, won't count for much.
Transport lawyer Tim Culpin advises you demand the fine is reduced or removed, since this is an inexpensive procedure and often yields results.
The Home Office produces a document called Civil Penalties Procedure. It states a fine cannot be imposed if a stowaway is found to be a 'fence jumper': "Fence jumpers are those people who have bypassed the UK-juxtaposed control point to conceal themselves in a vehicle in the ferry lanes. For the purposes of the legislation, such persons are not clandestine entrants because they have not passed the control hidden in a vehicle and a civil penalty cannot be imposed in such circumstances."