A SIXTEEN-year-old boy charged with raping two of his younger male cousins has been bailed to appear at Swindon Crown Court on April 26.

The Swindon teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, faces an increased number of charges to those put to him at his last court appearance on March 2.

As revealed in the Adver at the time he was originally up for five counts of rape relating to two boys.

He now faces four charges of rape, two of indecent assault and one of attempted rape.

The teenager, who was accompanied by his mother at Swindon Youth Court yesterday has not entered a plea at this stage.

Magistrates decided that the case was so serious it could only be dealt with by a judge at Crown Court. At his appearance on March 2 the court heard that the victims were his cousins, one of whom was a teenager while the other was of primary school age.

The youngster, who was defended by solicitor Andrew Hobson, looked stony-faced as he sat in the courtroom to hear the charges read out.

He was accompanied by his worried-looking mother.

It was the defendant's third appearance in court in connection with the case, the first hearing having been held on February 16.

There are seven charges in total.

The defendant was released on bail on the condition that he does not contact the victims or their mother and does not visit two Swindon schools, or visit a named Swindon street.