A man accused of piloting a small boat containing other illegal migrants which was stopped after crossing the English Channel will stand trial at Carlisle Crown Court later this year.
Noder Osman Adam, a 21-year-old Sudanese national, was prosecuted and brought to court after an incident in the Dover area on Sunday November 16 last year.
A boat was intercepted by Home Office Border Force officials at around 10am, said to have contained several dozen men and women.
Adam was initially arrested on suspicion of entering the UK illegally.
Carlisle Crown Court has heard he was initially bailed to accommodation in Aberdeen. He was then arrested for a second time after further evidence came to the attention of prosecutors.
At the court this morning, Adam pleaded not guilty to a charge of assisting unlawful immigration to the UK on November 16.
Court papers allege that Adam did so, on that date, by piloting a small boat containing people he knew, or suspected, were not entitled to enter the UK.
Adam appeared in court remotely, via a video link from HMP Durham.
He spoke with the assistance of a Sudanese interpreter, confirming his identity and formally entering his pleas to the two charges during a court hearing lasting almost 15 minutes.
Defence barrister Andrew Evans, for Adam, told Judge Nicholas Barker: “He will assert this is mistaken identification.”
Adam, of no fixed abode but previously of Stoneywood, Aberdeen, is next due to stand trial in front of a jury at the crown court. This hearing is set to start on October 13 this year and, it is estimated, will last around three days.
In the meantime, Adam was remanded in custody.
Judge Barker made a direction that Adam should assist his legal team with the preparation of a statement which formally sets out in writing his defence to the one charge that he denies. This must be done by June 5.
The case is being heard in Carlisle as it is the closest English court to Scotland, where Adam was arrested for a second time.
