FOUR teenagers from West Yorkshire are facing charges of housebreaking, car theft and assault after a number of alleged offences in East and South Ayrshire.

Joseph Schofield, 19, Harvey Harrison, 18, and Ellis Brook, 19, all appeared for a pre-trial hearing at Ayr Sheriff Court to face the allegations, while co-accused Jack Alstead, 18, who is currently in custody in England, was absent.

Schofield, Alstead and Brook are alleged to have stolen a vehicle in Content Street, Ayr on February 26 last year. 

It is claimed that the trio broke into a cottage at a farm in Failford, near Mauchline, with intent to steal the following day.

They face a further charge of stealing a Sky TV box after breaking into a house occupied by a woman in Thornyflat Street, Ayr.

Alstead and Harrison are alleged to have broken into a house owned by a couple on March 1, 2023, stealing a purse and its contents as well as a quantity of jewellery and jewellery boxes on Sorn Road, Auchinleck.

All four are said to have caused fear and alarm by shouting, swearing and repeatedly striking and kicking a door in the town's Old Avenue on the same date.

Court papers state they then entered the locus uninvited through a window and refused to leave the house.

According to the Crown, Brook assaulted a female after punching her while holding a pair of mole grips.

Prosecutors also claim Alstead was in possession of a bladed or sharply pointed item, namely a knife, in a public place on the same day at Lambfair Gardens in Auchinleck.

Schofield, of Nasen Street, Leeds, Alstead, of Westboyd Drive, Bradford, Harrison, of West Royd Crescent, Shipley, Bradford, and Brook, of Musgrave Rise, Leeds, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Bail was continued for Harrison and Brook and Schofield was returned to custody.

They will return to court at a later date.