MAGISTRATES have remanded a teenager from West Somerset to stand trial in Taunton Crown Court on historic charges of rape and sexual assault.

The 16-year-old boy, from Minehead, appeared before Taunton Deane Magistrates Court on Friday (March 6), having previously denied the offences during an earlier hearing last December.

He was accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl by penetration between May 31 and July 1, 2024, and of raping her between October 15 and November 1 the same year.

The youth, who cannot be identified because he is under 18 years of age, will go on trial on May 12.

The magistrates granted bail with a condition that the youth did not contact any of the witnesses involved in the case.