A vicar appeared in court yesterday accused of organising more than 180 “sham” weddings for illegal immigrants.

Reverend Alex Brown, 60, was charged with conspiring with Vladymyr Buchak, 32, to breach immigration laws.  Brown was held on Tuesday at St Peter and St Paul C of E church in St Leonards, East Sussex, where he had been a vicar for 18 years.

Prosecutor Jeremy King told magistrates in Hastings “Since 2007 more than 180 marriages have been conducted there.  “The vast majority comprised of non-EU nationals marrying EU nationals. A majority of the non-EU nationals had no right to remain in this country.  The marriages let them remain in this country.”

Brown was bailed until July 17 while Buchak, accused of using a false Estonian passport, was remanded in custody.

A notice has been placed on the church doors stating ‘All meetings and events have been cancelled until further notice’.

Local church goers expressed their surprise at Brown’s arrest.

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