A MAN appeared in court yesterday accused of the knifepoint rape of a teenage girl.

Michael Marsden, 21, is alleged to have carried out the attack on the 17-year-old girl, near Albany Village Centre, in Washington, Tyne and Wear, on the night of December 14 last year.

The girl is alleged to have been dragged to the rear of Braefell Court, where the attack took place, shortly after she got off a bus.

Mr Marsden, of Brockville, Hawthorn Close, Kimblesworth, near Chester-le-Street, in County Durham, appeared before magistrates in Houghton-le-Spring yesterday, when the case was transferred to the Newcastle Crown Court.

There was no application for bail by his solicitor, Michelle Clark, and Mr Marsden was remanded in custody to appear at the Crown Court next Friday