Mohammed Ali Sultan, 32, faces four charges of indecent assault and an offence of rape of a girl under 16 between September 2000 and May 2003.

Mohammad Rizwan, 36, faces two charges of indecent assault, Shafiq Younas, 34, faces a charge of indecent assault and Nazam Akhtar, 34, faces a charge of rape dating to the same period.

Amjad Hussain, 37, faces an charge of indecent assault jointly charged with Hussain, and a charge of indecent assault on March 28, 2002.

The defendants, who were teenagers at the time of the alleged incidents, denied all the charges when they appeared before a judge at Birmingham Crown Court yesterday.

The trial will be held on December 2.

Sultan, of no fixed abode, was remanded in custody until then, while the others, Hussain, of Acacia Drive, Leegomery; Rizwan, of Mafeking Road, Hadley; Younas, of Regent Street, Wellington, and Akhtar, of Victoria Avenue, Wellington, were all granted unconditional bail.