THREE MEN are to face trial charged with the abduction and assault of two men in Alloa last summer.

Joseph Haney, David Shanks, both 41, and Konrad Langer, 46, are alledged to have used a knife to hold one man against his will at a house in Burleigh Way on July 7.

The trio are accused of then subjecting him to a serious assault in which they repeatedly punched and kicked him, stripped him, tied him to a chair, and struck him on the head with the knife, all to his injury and permanent disfigurement.

Prosecutors also allege they robbed him of a crutch, a protective boot, and a mobile phone.

One the same day, all three men are accused of abducting a second man and shutting him in a room at the same address, refusing to let him leave, detaining him against his will, and punching and kicking him repeatedly on the body and the head, all to his injury.

Haney and Langer face further charges of attempting to defeat the end of justice by burying a knife, allegedly used in the first assault, in a patch of ground at Devon Road, Alloa.

Haney, of Cowane Street, Stirling; Langer, of Clackmannan; and Shanks, of Mull Court, Alloa, appeared at Falkirk Sheriff Court today (Tuesday) and confirmed pleas of not guilty to all the charges against them.

Sheriff John Mundy released them on bail and ordered them to appear for trial at a jury sitting at Stirling Sheriff Court, on April 25, with a further preliminary hearing on April 12.