Three men and a woman have appeared in court charged with a plot to smuggle illegal immigrants into the country via the Suffolk coast.

Six Ukranian males are said to have been detained at Orford Quay at around midnight on Wednesday, Ipswich magistrates were told yesterday.

The four people accused of people trafficking appeared before South East Suffolk Magistrates Court in three separate hearings.

Their cases have now been committed to Ipswich Crown Court.

All were arrested by officials from the Immigration Service at around midnight on Wednesday, magistrates were told.

The first to appear was 25-year-old Oleksander Kozak, of Middleton Street, Bethnal Green, east London.

Kozak faces two charges.

He is alleged to have been in possession of a false identity document, a Polish driving licence.

Kozak is also accused of facilitating the commission of a breach of the UK immigration laws.

His girlfriend also appeared before magistrates, but in a separate hearing aided by a Russian interpreter.

Tanya Boginska, also of Middleton Street, Bethnal Green, was charged with similar offences to Kozak.

However, the false document she is alleged to have possessed was said to have been a Lithuanian ID card.

The immigration charge alleged the 24-year-old breached UK immigration laws by allowing six Ukrainian males to enter the country who were not citizens of the European Union.

Kozak and Boginska’s co-defendants appeared in a third short hearing.

Oleg Bogdanov and Leksii Pavliuchenko, both from the Ukraine, each faced a charge of facilitating the entry into the UK of illegal entrants.

Bogdanov, 42, and Pavliuchenko, 21, were also detained by immigration officers on July 2.

The pair, were also aided by a Russian interpreter, who explained the proceedings to them.

No bail applications were made on behalf of any of the four defendants, who are from Ukraine.

During Kozak’s hearing magistrates were told any trial was likely to take place in November or December.

The quartet’s next appearances are due to be at a preliminary hearing before Ipswich Crown Court on July 15 via a video link.

They were remanded in custody until then.