A man from the Felixstowe area has been given unconditional bail at Ipswich Crown Court after being charged with smuggling an Albanian man into the country from France.

John Lockwood, 30, of Trimley St Martin, denied the offence, along with Richard Halls, 37, of St Andrews Place, Melton, and both were released on unconditional bail, following a plea and trial preparation hearing held at Ipswich on Friday.

The offence is alleged to have taken place between October 14 and 17 of last year, and Lockwood, was one of five men from Suffolk, one from Norfolk and one of Birmingham charged with offences linked to an investigation by the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU).

They were arrested and charged following warrants in Ipswich, Bury St Edmunds, Gorleston-on-Sea, in Norfolk, and Birmingham.

Gazmend Daci, 33, of Wherstead Road, Ipswich, and Fatjon Sulmataj, 35, of Manor Road, Birmingham, are jointly charged with conspiracy to produce cannabis between March 5 last year and March 17 this year, conspiracy to supply cannabis between the same dates, and with soliciting unlawful immigration between October 14 and 17 last year – by arranging for an Albanian national to be transported in the back of a van on a P&O ferry to Dover.

Daci entered not guilty pleas to all offences, while Sulmataj is expected to formally enter pleas at a subsequent hearing.

Both men were remanded in custody by Judge David Pugh.

Jurgen Nikoci, 23, of Church Road, Gorleston-on-Sea, and Myles Davies, 37, of Henley Road, Ipswich, have been jointly charged with conspiracy to produce cannabis between March 5 last year and March 17 this year.

Both men denied the charge, with Nikoci also entering a not guilty plea to possession of an identity document with an improper intention – namely a document containing his photograph but in the name of someone else – on June 9 this year.

Davies was released on unconditional bail and Nikoci was remanded in custody. Elliott Thompson, 28, of Ipswich Road, Stowmarket, charged with the same offence, was released on unconditional bail, with his case listed for mention on the same day as a further case management hearing on October 16, when a trial date will be confirmed.