A 16-year-old Belfast youth appeared in court on Saturday charged in connection with the double rape of a 15-year-old English girl holidaying in the city last Saturday week.
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 later this month.
The 15-year-old girl, from the north of England, was robbed and attacked by two males last Saturday week.
Three teenage boys she was with were beaten, stripped to the waist and forced to watch while she was sexually assaulted
twice.
One of the attackers, who was armed with a screwdriver, 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 on Friday. He faced nine charges other than aiding and abetting rape.
He was 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.
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.
A detective sergeant told the brief hearing that when he charged the youth on Friday 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.
The detective 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 youngsters 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.