14-year-old is accused of rapes

A 14-year-old boy has been charged at Belfast Youth Court with raping two 10-year-old girls.

The boy, who cannot be named because of his age, was also charged with committing an act of gross indecency against one of the girls.

The boy was remanded in custody to a youth custody centre.

A detective said there was a risk of him committing further offences as well as interfering with witnesses if he was released on bail.

The boy's mother told the court that he had been diagnosed as suffering from attention deficit disorder and was on a course of treatment to deal with it.

She said that if bail was granted both she and her husband would supervise and control him 24 hours a day.

However, resident magistrate George Conner said it was not an appropriate case for bail.

The boy was hugged by his parents before being taken away