AN eight-year-old was kidnapped at knifepoint and forced to strip naked before being beaten and stabbed by two older boys demanding sex, a court heard yesterday.

The terrified youngster had been playing with friends in a residential street when the boys, aged 11 and 13, allegedly approached them and pulled out a knife with a 7in blade.

The court was told that two of the children managed to escape, but the eight-year-old was taken to a secluded area, stripped and ordered to perform sex acts on the boys, who told him: "You are gay. We want you to have sex."

Teesside Crown Court heard that the boys rubbed themselves against the child's naked body, bounced him up and down in the air and passed the knife between them as they demanded sex.

When the child refused to perform any sex acts, he was thrown in a thorn bush and kicked and punched in the face. He was also stabbed twice with the knife.

His attackers then walked him home to his mother, where he was told to lie about his injuries.

Aidan Marron, prosecuting, said the incident took place on April 24 last year, when the boy was taken from Taylor Square, in Bishop Auckland, County Durham.

He said: "He was told not to move and that he would be stabbed. They took hold of the eight-year-old and led him to the rear of a derelict house, down an isolated path and to a school field.

"At that isolated location his clothes were all removed by the two older boys."

The boys then exposed their genitals to the child and asked him to perform a sex act.

"Both older boys referred to him as being gay and asked if he wanted sex.

"And, significantly to this case, of that awful ordeal, they were passing the knife between them, one to the other, by way of continuing threat."

The 11-year-old boy, from Bishop Auckland, who is now 12 and cannot be named for legal reasons, is charged with kidnap and assault.

Mr Marron said that when the victim was returned to his home in a traumatised state, his mother was told he had fallen into a bush. The boy suffered two wounds to his right arm caused by the knife, bruising to his arm and back, and scratches across his face and body.

The court heard that the victim's mother became concerned that something more serious had happened when the child sat staring into space, refused to visit Taylor Square again or undress in front of her.

He told her: "I will not be able to sleep tonight. I keep getting flashbacks about what happened."

Police were called and the alleged victim was interviewed. He told officers: "I was frightened. I felt scared.

"I did not do what they wanted me to do so they chucked me in the thorn bush."

The court heard that, when arrested, the 11-year-old said he had not stripped the child, had not had a knife, had not taken part in the incident and had never seen the youngster before.

The court was told he was later positively identified by the victim, his mother and the two friends who the eight-year-old had been playing with.

One of the alleged victim's friends, also aged eight, sobbed as he told police: "They were torturing us. They were making us stand still.

"They were threatening us and said if we didn't stand still they would stab us with the knife. Me and my friend got away, we ran off."

The 11-year-old alleged kidnapper has been declared unfit to plead to the charges because of his intellect, and is not standing a criminal trial where guilt or innocence has to be determined by a jury.

Instead, a jury panel must decide whether the facts of the case against him are established. If they are, he could be made subject to a supervision order.

None of the children in the case can be identified for legal reasons.

The proceedings continue.