Five remanded on child sex charges

Five men have appeared in court accused of child sex offences in Rochdale.

The five were among 10 men arrested following a police investigation into child sexual exploitation in the town. Seven victims, aged as young as 13, are alleged to have been subjected to a catalogue of sexual offences between 2005-2013.

The five were charged with offences yesterday and appeared at Bury Magistrates' Court today. No pleas were entered.

Each was called into the courtroom separately and dealt with during brief hearings this morning, where they spoke only to confirm their names, ages and addresses.

Alison Cartmell, prosecuting, applied for the case to be sent to crown court for a preliminary hearing on March 16.

Chair of the bench Lynn Smith granted bail to each defendant until the hearing next month at Manchester Crown Court. The defendants must live and sleep at the addresses given in court, must not contact witnesses and must have no unsupervised contact with children under 16, except one defendant allowed to be with his five-year-old son.

All five men masked their faces with scarves and hoods as they left the court to face TV and press photographers.