A wealthy businessman was furious when he visited his luxury second home in Cornwall to find an illegal immigrant living inside.
The father of two, who wishes to remain anonymous, had arrived at the £750k property in St Ives with his family when he noticed a smashed window.
He walked through the front door and was stunned to see intruder Saidahmed-Hamid Ghalem, 28, preparing a meal inside the kitchen.
Ghalem, whose last address was in the Docklands area of east London, had been living in the seafront cottage for a number of days.
The homeowner, who lives in the West Midlands, but rents out his fisherman’s cottage on a luxury holiday let website, was said to be ‘horrified’ when he found the man.
He is now considering taking proceedings against authorities for failing in their duty to deal with illegal immigrants.
When the Daily Mail visited the beautiful Cornish bolthole this week, there was signs of forced entry
Second homes in the Cornish idyll are in high demand despite objections from locals who say they kill the soul of the area
A relative told the Daily Mail: ‘The person involved was subject to a deportation order so why was he still in the country?’
‘He was shocked and horrified to find him in his holiday home which he had visited during the half term holidays.’
The family source added: ‘It’s his holiday home and he found this man, a stranger, in his kitchen and cooking food, but I am not sure what it was.
‘He had been living there for a quite a few days.
‘He told the man to leave the house which he did but a few days later, but he was spotted begging in the street nearby.
‘He was a homeless asylum seeker who had come from London to chance his luck as there are so many vacant properties not occupied at this time of year.’
Ghalem, 28, who recently pleaded guilty to criminal damage and trespass at Truro Magistrates’ Court was ordered to pay £1,000 in compensation, the Falmouth Packet reported.
The source said: ‘He hasn’t got the money to pay that back.’
Neighbours said the 50-year-old homeowner and his family were so shocked by the break-in they fled to another property in Falmouth before returning the following morning to repair the damage.
Colin Nicholls, owner of Colenso, a nearby hardware shop said: ‘He just told me he’d had a break in and needed to block off a window, it wasn’t until this morning that I heard about the asylum seeker moving in.
Neighbours of the home owner claim they were as shocked as he was when they learned the truth
One told the Mail they had witnessed the police arrive on the sleepy road to escort the migrant away
‘It must’ve been awful for them. I think they asked the guy to leave and he did but then he tried to come back again a few days later.
‘He told me they’d decided not to stay and had gone to Falmouth instead.
‘I think he took it in good spirits and was very measured in his approach.
‘I’d imagine he’s quite successful and normally deals in bigger things than this, he told me they weren’t going to let it ruin their weekend.
‘I’ve seen him before, he’s a really nice guy and comes down every couple of weeks with his wife.
‘I don’t think other second homeowners should be worried, this is an isolated incident and most of the homes are so close together it’d be very hard to break in unnoticed.’
There was no sign of the couple at their four-bed semi-detached holiday home when the Mail visited this week but a neighbour who didn’t want to be named said: ‘A mate of mine witnessed the guy getting taken away by the police.
‘All I know is he broke in through the window and cooked himself some food.’
The migrant’s preffered bolthole has hit the headlines this summer for a host of concerning reasons.
Only last month, residents in the county’s most coveted destination, told the Daily Mail that they have noticed a huge decline in earnings and a drop-off in tourists this year due to rampant anti-tourist and second home-owner energy.
They claimed a perfect storm of anti-tourism sentiment, unreliable weather, second homes and price hikes is pushing the vital British market to overseas rivals like Spain, Italy and Greece.
‘You always see people complaining about the tourists but it’s important to us,’ waitress Ella Erijota said.
‘I’ve noticed a massive decline in the amount of visitors this summer and it’s concerning.
‘Cornwall relies on tourism and needs it to survive.’
Last year Cornwall faced its worst summer visitor numbers in a decade, and this summer is not predicted to be much better (pictured: St Ives Harbour looking rather empty)
Shop owners and residents in St Ives, the county’s most coveted destination, told the Daily Mail that they have noticed a huge decline in earnings and a drop-off in tourists this year (pictured: one of the many empty streets in St Ives)
A crude 6ft-long banner – written in black paint on a white board – was held by three people to welcome tourists to Cornwall
Cornish locals claim a perfect storm of anti-tourism sentiment, unreliable weather, second homes and price hikes is pushing the vital British market to overseas rivals
‘It’s been a lot quieter this year, I’ve definitely noticed a decline in tourism,’ St Ives resident and shop worker Charlotte Cooper said.
Ms Cooper, along with several other business owners, explained that they had noticed a significant reduction in earnings this summer.
‘I blame overpriced holiday homes for deterring tourists. You can get an all-inclusive holiday abroad for the same price as renting a home here for a couple days.
‘And the money people do spend on B&Bs isn’t even going into the town, it’s going to owners elsewhere.’
She added: ‘There are hardly any jobs outside of tourism, if you haven’t made enough money over the summer you’re struggling the rest of the year.’
The slump in visitors in Cornwall echoes similar trends in Spain where a relentless campaign of anti-tourist protests have been ‘scaring away visitors’.
A Home Office Spokesperson said: ‘It is our longstanding policy not to comment on individual cases, but when foreign nationals commit serious crimes in our country, we will always do everything in our power to deport them.
‘This government deported almost 5,200 foreign national offenders in its first year in office, a 14% increase on the previous year, and we will continue to do everything we can to remove these vile criminals from our streets.’
