Girl, eight, 'raped by two 10-year-old boys' in London

Last updated at 13:43 GMT, Wednesday, 12 May 2010 14:43 UK

An eight-year-old girl was raped by two 10-year-old boys while out playing near her home in west London, a jury heard.

The girl, who had been playing with her sister, later told her mother she had been taken to a block of flats by the boys, the Old Bailey heard.

The boys, who cannot be identified because of their age, each deny two charges of rape and two charges of attempted rape of a child under 13.

The offences are alleged to have happened in October 2009.

The alleged rape happened near to where all the children - who knew each other - lived, the court heard.

The mother went looking for the girl after her younger sister returned home without her. She found her with the boys, said Rosina Cottage, prosecuting.

The boys, who are now aged 10 and 11, are among the youngest to be charged with rape in the UK.

The jury was told that the court's sitting hours had been shortened and other steps would be taken because the defendants were so young.

The judge, Mr Justice Saunders, sat where the court clerk normally sits so he was on the same level as the boys.

'Secluded spot'

Miss Cottage told the court: "This case concerns rape by two boys still at primary school of a girl even younger than them.

"Together they took her to different locations near where they lived in order to find a sufficiently secluded spot to assault her.

"The events leading to the alleged rapes all took place in and around a block of flats and they ended in a field."

Miss Cottage said when the victim's mother and younger sister went to fetch her, they bumped into the mother of the younger defendant and a five-year-old playmate.

When the boy's mother asked the little boy where her son was "he said that he was in a nearby field and that he was with (the girl) and that he was hurting her", said Miss Cottage.

He pointed over to the field and the women went to find the children. The girl's mother went into the field but could not locate her.

When she did find her, the woman "could see things were not right with her daughter".

Miss Cottage said the mother later asked the girl what was wrong and the girl told her mother that the boys had taken her to the top floor of a block of flats where they had moved the bins in a bin shed so that she could not get out before assaulting her.

Miss Cottage added: "When a car pulled up the boys had taken her out of the bin shed and taken her to the fields.

"She told them to leave her alone."

The boys again assaulted her, the court heard.

The trial continues.

From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/8677779.stm