A MAN has appeared in court charged with bringing people into the UK to work illegally through Prestwick Airport.

Domingos Natalino Soares Sousa Reis denies an allegation that he ‘facilitated an attempted breach of immigration law’ at the airport on August 1, 2022.

The 38-year-old is alleged to have assisted Francisco Soares Gusmao, 35, and Jacinto Da Costa, 24, and others who were not UK nationals, to come into the country for the purposes of work.

The Crown’s indictment claims that Mr Reis travelled with individuals who claimed they were coming to the UK to attend a sporting event, “when in fact you intended to travel to work n the UK”.

The charge alleges that the act was committed “while knowing or having reasonable cause for believing that said acts would have facilitated the commission of an attempted breach of immigration law by individuals who you knew, or had reasonable cause to believe, were not nationals of the UK”.

Mr Reis, of Wharton Bridge, Winsford, Cheshire, pleaded not guilty to the charge during a brief pre-trial hearing at Ayr Sheriff Court.

Duty solicitor John Gallagher told Sheriff Shirley Foran that the accused had lost touch with his previous Ayr-based solicitor, and asked for Mr Reis to be allowed more time to engage a specialist in immigration law.

Sheriff Foran adjourned the 'first diet' hearing and warned Mr Reis it was his responsibility to secure legal representation.

Bail was continued and he will return to face the charge again at a later date.