UK soldier charged over child sex attack

Austrian prosecutors say they have charged a British soldier with allegedly breaking into a local family's house and sexually abusing their six-year-old daughter.

The paratrooper, 30, who has not been named, has been charged with rape and grievous sexual abuse of a minor, said Hansjoerg Mayr, public prosecutor in the western Austrian state of Tyrol.

"The trial will start on March 10," Mayr said on Wednesday. The defendant faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

The soldier, who was taking part in military exercises in the Alps, was tackled by the girl's father in the house in Neustift im Stubaital during the alleged incident late last year, and has been in Austrian custody ever since.