Four people appeared in court in the north on Friday, accused of having attempted to coordinate a crossing to the Republic using counterfeit German identity cards.

Two of the detainees, a man and his son, who is a minor, allegedly attempted to cross to the Republic at the Ayios Dhometios crossing point at around 1pm on Monday.

Once the police ascertained that the identity cards they had presented were counterfeit, they arrested the pair.

The pair had reportedly obtained the identify cards in Turkey and had then travelled to the north as tourists.

Further investigation by the Turkish Cypriot police found two other people who were linked to the crime.

Both were also arrested, and all four appeared in court together on Friday, where it was ordered that all four be held in custody for a period not exceeding two months subject to a trial.