A 13-year-old boy, accused of raping his teacher, appeared before magistrates today.

The boy, who was 12 at the time of the incident on November 29 2004, and cannot be identified for legal reasons, spoke only to confirm his former address.

The youngster, who is 5ft 3ins tall, of heavy build, with short dark hair, was wearing a black zip-up sports top with a dark blue polo shirt underneath.

He was escorted by two male social workers.

He is accused of raping his teacher, who is in her 30s, in County Durham and then stealing her Renault Megane car, worth £21,000, which was later found in Gateshead.

At the hearing at Newton Aycliffe Magistrates Court, County Durham, the boy was represented by Cormac Gray, with Derek Walton acting on behalf of the prosecution.

The boy was remanded into the custody of the local authority on December 6.

There was no application for bail and the boy was remanded into the custody of Gateshead Council, until January 10 2005 when he will appear again at 10am at Newton Aycliffe Youth Court for commital to crown court.