Two journalism students from America’s midwest are to face trial next month, accused of chanting racist slogans on a Scottish train.

Identical twins Walker and Weston Romens (20), currently at Stirling University on a student exchange from the University of North Dakota, appeared at a procedural hearing at Stirling Sheriff Court on Tuesday (21 April).

It is alleged that on a train on 31 January, at various points between Glasgow’s Queen Street Station and Stirling Railway Station, the twins behaved in a threatening or abusive manner likely to cause a reasonable person fear and alarm.

The single charge alleges that they “did use and chant abusive comments of a religious and racial nature”.

The pair, from Minnesota, pleaded not guilty, and gave Stirling University addresses.

Defence agent Virgil Crawford said that the pair had no income, but did not yet have legal aid as they were American citizens and had to prove how much capital they had in their US bank accounts.

Sheriff William Gilchrist continued the case to a further pre-trial hearing on 5 May, for the issue of legal aid to be sorted out, before trial on 14 May.