A couple have appeared in court accused of taking a river boat called ‘Running Wild’ without permission then damaging it and injuring two people.

Nicola Absolom, 39, and Joe Sutton, 34, are said to have taken the Thames Cruiser Freeman 26 without the consent of the owner over a week last June.

Prosecutors claim the Henley hire boat was damaged and two people injured as a result of how the vessel was driven between June 21 and 30 last year in Henley-on-Thames.

Charges state the boat was called the ‘Running Wild’.

The man and woman were due to stand trial at Oxford Magistrates’ Court on Friday on a charge of aggravated vehicle taking but the trial had to be adjourned for lack of court time.

On Friday, Sutton, of no fixed address, pleaded not guilty to an alternative charge of taking a vehicle without consent. His co-defendant, also of no fixed address, pleaded not guilty to being carried in a vehicle taken without consent.

Both defendants denied a charge of damaging the fixtures, fittings and furnishings of the boat.

A re-fixed trial will be held on November 19. The defendants were released on unconditional bail.

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