A TEENAGER accused of a series of street sex attacks on young women appeared in court yesterday.

The 16-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was charged at Hartlepool Magistrates' Court with four counts of indecently assaulting girls in Hartlepool between March 19 and 27. He is also charged with attempted robbery. He was granted conditional bail, to live at his parents' home address and stay away from witnesses, and was committed to Teesside Crown Court on October 31.

PATIENT CHARGED: A hospital patient appeared at Teesside Crown Court yesterday charged with holding two psychiatrists prisoner. Alan Harbron, 36, a voluntary in-patient at St Luke's Hospital, Middlesbrough for three years, was alleged to have slashed his wrist then threatened doctors who tried to get help. He was remanded in custody until November 7, but defence barrister Nigel Soppitt said that there might he a bail application before then.

'PHOENIX' ARREST: A 46-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the rape of a woman in South Tyneside in 1991. The man, from the South Tyneside area, was bailed, pending further inquiries. It is the latest step in Operation Phoenix by Northumbria Police, which uses new technology to re-investigate unsolved sexual assaults. Information has also led to a 25-year-old Sunderland man being charged with raping a woman in the city in 1995. He will appear before Newcastle Crown Court on October 2.

VICTIM NAMED: A motorcyclist killed in an accident near Malton, North Yorkshire, was named yesterday as Claude Robert Issatt, 71, from Osgodby, near Selby. He died after his Honda collided with a car on the Barton Hill to Castle Howard road on Tuesday.

SCHOOL TV: Life at one of Britain's top public schools, Ampleforth College, near Helmsley, North Yorkshire, is to be featured in a one-off fly-on-the-wall documentary, which will be screened on ITV early next year.

RAPIST JAILED: A man was jailed yesterday for ten years after he was convicted of six charges of rape and one of indecent assault. Abdul Ali, 44, of Corporation Road, Darlington, was found guilty at Teesside Crown Court.

FIVE HELD: Five people have been arrested on suspicion of the theft of a Land Rover Discovery, which was seen being driven suspiciously along Dockside Road, Middlesbrough. It collided with a Mercedes car at Kirkleatham, near Redcar.