Four schoolboys have appeared before the Crown Court on dinner money bullying charges.
In one of the first cases of its kind, the schoolboys, aged from 15 to 17, appeared at Dungannon Crown Court charged with repeatedly beating up a fellow pupil and stealing his dinner money.
Three of the four attended court in their school uniforms.
It is alleged the four youths, who cannot be identified due to their age, assaulted the young victim on five occasions and stole £3 from him on four consecutive weeks between May 24 and June 21, 2015.
The victim claims he was regularly beaten up and bullied by the four accused. He says one of them would reach into his blazer pocket and take his £3 dinner money, usually after being beaten and kicked.
One of the youths, aged 16, pleaded not guilty to the charges. He was released on continuing bail to allow him to return to school.
Defence counsel for the other three argued some or all the charges against their clients should not proceed.
A prosecution lawyer stated: “This is a joint enterprise and the basis is that the same persons were identified at all incidents and there is therefore reasonable inference all participated in the entire act each time.”
Judge Neil Rafferty described the matter as “a very rare situation indeed.”
The case was adjourned and the three remaining accused were released on continuing bail until a date to be fixed in April.