FOUR men have appeared in court in connection with a raid on a flat in Devizes Road last week.

Their charges relate to the kidnap and assault of a teenager.

Officers stormed the flat, accesible from an alleyway behind Dotty's Cafe, on Thursday morning. Armed officers and dog units were involved.

Five people - four men and a woman - were arrested during the operation. All were later released without charge.

However enquiries relating to the raid led to a further five arrests.

Connor Stacey and Daniel Dowling from Reading were arrested outside the Wiltshire Police area before being brought back for questioning. 

They both face charges of kidnapping, conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm and causing grievous bodily harm with intent to a 17-year-old who cannot be named for legal reasons.

Stacey, 22, of Sheraton Drive, Tilehurst and Dowling, also 22, of Birinus Road, Calcot, were remanded in custody by Swindon magistrates on Monday.

Callum Barlow and Jamie Bullen, both 24 and of Downton Road, were arrested at an address in Penhill alongside a third person. 

Barlow and Bullen are accused of aiding and abetting, counselling and procuring others to unlawfully and maliciously cause grievous bodily harm to the unnamed teenage victim.

The third person arrested has been released under investigation.

Barlow and Bullen were both granted conditional bail by the court with a 7pm to 7am curfew and a requirement to report on a daily basis to Gablecross Police Station.

They were instructed not to have any contact with each other, the victim or any of the other defendants. Barlow was ordered to live at an address in Ulysses Road, Swindon.

None of the men indicated any plea and all four are due to appear before a judge at Swindon Crown Court on December 29.

“Our inquiries are continuing," said a Wiltshire Police spokesman.