Teenager charged in connection with Belfast rape
A 16-year-old Belfast youth appeared in court today charged in connection with the double rape of a 15-year-old English girl holidaying in the city last weekend.
The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, denied two charges of aiding and abetting a male person in rape when he appeared before a special sitting of Craigavon Magistrates Court in Co Armagh.
He was remanded in custody to Lisburn Co Antrim court on August 13.
The 15-year-old girl, from the north of England, was robbed and attacked by two males last Saturday.
Three teenage boys she was with were beaten, stripped to the waist and forced to watch while she was twice sexually assaulted.
One of the attackers then called the girl’s mother on a stolen mobile phone to gloat over what had happened.
The 16-year-old youth was charged after voluntarily going to police in Belfast yesterday. He faced nine charges other than aiding and abetting rape.
He was also charged with robbing a female of her mobile phone, jewellery and money with a value of about £120 while armed with an iron bar, and three similar charges.
He was also charged with assaulting a female unlawfully and injuriously imprisoning and detaining her against her will, and three similar charges.
He was further charged with unlawfully and maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm on a male.
A detective sergeant told the brief hearing that when he charged the youth last night he replied not guilty to the charges of aiding and abetting rape but made no reply when the other charges where put to him.
He said he believed he could connect the juvenile to the charges.
The girl had been holidaying in Belfast and was staying with her three friends at one of their family’s homes when she was targeted.
The youngster’s ordeal began after they sneaked out unnoticed as their parents slept and were confronted by two males near the house.
The girl was dragged into an empty petrol station forecourt on Blacks Road and raped while the boys were hit with an iron bar.
All four were then taken to a nearby golfing complex where the second rape took place.
