A MAN has denied stealing tea and biscuits from a guest house in a burglary alleged to have taken place during lockdown.

Prosecutors claim that Robert Newman burgled the address on Abingdon Road, Oxford, on Tuesday.

It is alleged that the 32-year-old of no fixed abode broke into the Lakeside Guest House and made off with tea, coffee, biscuits and milk.

Summarising the case at Oxford Magistrates’ Court yesterday prosecutor Dana Patel said that there were family members inside the property during the ongoing city lockdown.

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She said that before discovering the alleged burglary they had ‘heard noises overnight.’

It was the next day, the court heard, that they noticed a window had been smashed and Newman was inside the property.

Prosecutors further claim that a set of condiments from the guest hotel was stolen in the burglary to a value unknown.

At the hearing Newman pleaded not guilty.

Determining where the case should be heard – either before magistrates or at the crown court – District Judge Kamlesh Rana said the case could not be determined by magistrates.

She said: “These matters are too serious for me to deal with in this court and I am sending them to the crown court in Oxford.

“Between now and that date I will remand you in custody.”

Newman was ordered to appear for the first listing of the case at Oxford Crown Court on May 5.

He will remain in custody to await that court appearance.