A TWENTY-one-year-old west Cumbrian man has appeared before a Carlisle court to face an allegation of raping a woman.
Robert Scott Bell, of Main Street, Cockermouth, is alleged to have committed the offence on Christmas Eve, 2018. He appeared before District Judge Gerald Chalk at Carlisle’s Rickergate Magistrates’ Court.
In court, the defendant spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth and address, but he did not enter any plea to the allegation.
Judge Chalk said that his only tasks were to send the case to Carlisle Crown Court for a hearing there on February 24 and to impose bail conditions on the defendant.
He told Bell he was under an obligation to appear before the court on that day and to make no contact with the alleged victim, either in person, through social media or via any thirty party.
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