A young couple have gone on trial at Carlisle Crown Court accused of committing sex acts in front of a schoolboy.

The jury in the case heard prosecutor Jon Close describe how the alleged victim - a 15-year-old boy - was in a bedroom with the couple on a day in July of last year when the first of two alleged offences happened.

A second similar offence happened just two days later, said Mr Close.

Both the man and the woman are in their 20s, but neither can be identified for legal reasons.

They have each denied two counts of engaging in sexual activity in front of a child for sexual gratification.

Opening the case for the prosecution, Mr Close said on the day of the first offence everybody involved was drinking alcohol.

The Crown's case was that both defendants were under the influence of drink at the time.

They were in a bedroom with the teenager, rolling cigarettes and it was at this point that the woman defendant whispered something to her partner.

Immediately after this, said Mr Close, the couple engaged in the sex act.

"The complainant [the boy] looked away before leaving the room," said Mr Close.

"He was told by the defendants: 'Don't talk about it. You didn't see it."

The second offence happened a few days later in the kitchen of the same house, said Mr Close.

The barrister said that seeing these things left the boy feeling disgusted and angry. "He felt that they had done this deliberately; that they had wanted him to watch," said Mr Close.

The boy told his mother about what had happened in a text message on August 10.

During their police interviews, said the prosecutor, the defendants denied the offences in their entirety.

He said: "They said that nothing like that had occurred. It was a malicious allegation."

Mr Close concluded his opening by telling the jury that once they had heard the boy's evidence they would be sure of the defendants' guilt.

The trial continues.