A PARTIALLY blind man has gone on trial accused of stealing an £18 pair of binoculars from a flea market.

Bric-a-brac stallholder Patricia Elderfield told a jury at Burnley Crown Court that Kenneth Young, 61, deliberately opened his bag and put the binoculars in - then offered her £5 for them when she shouted to him.

But Young, who also suffers from multiple sclerosis, claims the binoculars fell from his grasp and on to the top of his bag.

Young, of Fern Road, Burnley, who has no criminal convictions, denies theft in March.

Mrs Elderfield alleged she saw Young lean forward and take the binoculars from the back of the stall. She said he then turned them over in his hands, bent down, opened his bag and placed the binoculars inside.

Asked by Martin Hackett, prosecuting, if that was a deliberate act, she replied: "Yes."

The stallholder, who said she had not seen Young before, claimed she was stunned and then "incensed," when Young offered her £5 for them.

She said she took hold of his arm to take him to the security office, but he pushed her off. The binoculars were recovered.

Robert Crawford, defending, said Young, who was registered partially sighted and also walked with a limp, made no attempt to leave the market after the alleged offence, but carried on looking at stalls.

The barrister added because of the defendant's severe visual impairment, he would not have been able to tell if anybody was watching him.

Under cross-examination, Mrs Elderfield agreed she had been "plagued," by theft but said there was no way she had "innocently misinterpreted," Young's actions.

Mr Crawford suggested another man at the stall had picked up the binoculars , handed them to the defendant but he dropped them on to the top of his bag. They did not at any point go inside the bag.

Mrs Elderfield replied :"I watched him open the bag and put them in."

(Proceeding)