A newly-engaged Brit couple were banged up in a French jail for two days after being falsely accused of people smuggling.

Jordan Valentine, 20, and Sam Hemingway, 23, both from Wrexham, north Wales, said they were held without food or access to a lawyer during the shocking ordeal in June.

The pair, who went on holiday to celebrate their engagement, were returning home when they were stopped by immigration officials at the ferry terminal in Calais.

Officers opened the boot to conduct a routine search and found a boy hiding among the luggage, stunning the couple who said they had no idea who the boy was or how he got there.

Sam and Jordan were celebrating their recent anniversary
Sam and Jordan were celebrating their recent anniversary

Jordan and Sam were then whisked off to a local police station where they were held for two-and-a-half days. They told cops that the boot was faulty and did not lock.

Sam, a hotel chef, said that he and his new fiancee were asked if they wanted legal representation and to see a doctor but neither materialised.

Eventually, police returned to the car at the ferry port, tested it and found that the locking system was easily compromised.

Mr Hemingway said that once freed, he and his fiancée had to walk five miles to retrieve their car.

He explained: “We were treated appallingly and we had done nothing wrong. We were denied all sorts of simple human rights.

The couple were coming back from France via alais
The couple were coming back from France via alais

“We tried to explain there was a fault with the car, that the boot didn’t shut properly and that’s how he got in. He was a 16-year-old from Iran they told us.

“Then all of a sudden after two days the police released us with no apology saying the case had been dropped. We are thinking of making a case against them.”

He said that he and Ms Valentine had spoken to the Foreign Office but decided that fighting against the French police was “not a battle we can win”.

Following Sam’s proposal the couple plan to tie the knot in November this year.

Earlier this year a husband and wife told how they discovered a stowaway in the roof box of their car after they had checked into a Calais hotel the previous day.