Briton jailed for hiring illegal workers

A BRITISH man has been jailed for two months by a Nicosia District Court for illegally hiring builders who did not have work or residence permits.

Larnaca resident Steve Sheed, 54, pleaded guilty to several charges relating to hiring five Bangladeshi and Pakistani nationals without work permits.

Sheed was arrested when immigration officials and police came to a construction site in the Aglandja area of Nicosia on February 26.

At the site, they found around six people working on an apartment building complex and immediately proceeded to ask for their permits.

When no paperwork was presented, all the men, including Sheed, were arrested and taken to Lykavitos police station, where they were officially charged.

Some of the builders had claimed that they didn’t realise that were not entitled to work without permits.

In his statement to police, Sheed told investigators, “I believed these people had the appropriate work permits. I had no reason to disbelieve them and they were told to have their work permits this week for me to see.”

Yesterday, Judge Lemonia Kaoutzani jailed Sheed for two months, while the workers were jailed for four months after also confessing to charges of illegal residence on the island.

Judge Kaoutzani also stated that she took into consideration all the men’s immediate confession to the crimes and their clean records prior to their arrest.

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