Teenage boy charged with attempted rape refused bail

An application was made on behalf of the defendant at the High Court in Belfast

A teenager charged with the attempted rape of a teenage girl in Ballymena in June has been refused bail.

An application was made on behalf of the 15-year-old Romanian defendant at the High Court in Belfast.

He is one of two boys charged in connection with an alleged serious sexual assault which sparked riots in Ballymena during the summer.

The court heard a third suspect fled to Romania via Dublin airport the day after the alleged attack and police are currently making attempts to extradite him back to Northern Ireland.

The girl was allegedly dragged down an alleyway into a garage in the Clonavon Terrace area of the town on 7 June.

It's the prosecution's case that "all three were instrumental in pulling her from the street" and that the alleged assault stopped when a defendant heard a noise and the girl "was able to run off".

The boys can't be named because of their age but previously confirmed their details in court through a Romanian interpreter.

They have been in custody since their arrest following the alleged incident.

A bail application for one of the boys was refused earlier this month following disputed claims his father said he would remove his son from the jurisdiction if granted bail.

On Thursday, the judge said he was satisfied there is a prima facie case against the defendants.

During the bail application for the second boy, his parents were in court to support him but the court was told they returned to Romania shortly after the alleged offending for their own safety.

In refusing bail due to a risk of flight, the judge said this was partly due to the "serious violence and disorder which followed reports of alleged offending. One can understand a desire to flee".

He said the boy's "co-accused has already left the country, there's a reason to believe the second may have had plans to leave the jurisdiction if granted bail".

"In this case the applicant's family have also left the country….he has no real ties to this jurisdiction. The fact his parents have severed those ties and moved away underscores the motivation to escape Northern Ireland."