A 16 year old Derry youth accused of assaulting a 19 year old woman with intent to rape her three days ago was refused High Court bail in Belfast yesterday.
The youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons, allegedly lured the woman to a shed at the back of his Bogside home on Tuesday and threatened to stab her with a kitchen knife while indecently assaulting her.
Mr Justice Higgins was told that the woman managed to disarm the youth and made her escape when his mother opened the door of the shed.
Prosecuting counsel said that the woman had been out for the evening with friends, but became separated from them and was in Shipquay Street when approached by the youth.
The woman told him she was tired and wanted to go home and he allegedly offered to take her to his home, from where he would call a taxi for her.
Counsel further claimed that the youth managed to lure the woman back to his home by telling her he had met one of her friends, whom he had sent to his house.
When they arrived at the house he got her to wait for him in a back yard while he went inside. On his return he grabbed the woman and forced her into a shed, where he stuck something in her back, saying it was a knife, counsel told the court.
After the woman managed to make her escape she went to the police and told them of her alleged ordeal. She was later accompanied by police to the youth's home.
When interviewed, the youth alleged that the woman had agreed to go into the shed with him. He claimed that she had slapped his face when he tried to kiss her and had then walked off.