A MAN who denies burgling the same outbuilding in Osmington on three occasions is facing trial at Dorchester Crown Court.

Darren Charles Reed, aged 47, has entered not guilty pleas to three counts of burglary relating to the same premises in Church Lane between August 15 and October 27 last year.

He is accused of stealing jerry cans of fuel, two digital cameras, a bottle of gin, a bottle of rum, two bikes and a sat nav.

The jury was told that the owners of the premises went away on holiday in August and when they returned they discovered some jerry cans of fuel were missing from a stable block but assumed a family member had borrowed them and not returned them.

On the second occasion in September the family had been camping and returned to find the stable block had been raided again.

Homeowner Nicholas Savva and other family members conducted a search of the nearby area and found one of the jerry cans that was missing from the first occasion as well as a piece of cloth with a red stain on it.

The cloth was analysed by police and found to have blood matching that of the defendant.

On the third occasion in October, a mountain bike was stolen as well as a jumper bike, a sat nav, a set of mountain bike lights and some more jerry cans of petrol.

Reed, of Khartoum Road, Weymouth, told the jury that he had never been to the premises in question and he had not committed any of the three burglaries.

The case continues.