A MAN living alone broke through the loft into his next door neighbour's home and stole her daughter's underwear, a court heard.

The alleged victim and her boyfriend had earlier returned to her home to find an "eye hole" in the bathroom ceiling and debris on the floor.

Burnley Crown Court was told how police later found the items - snatched from the 20-year-old woman's laundry basket - in John Kelvin Brown's home.

Brown, 56, of Ripon Road, West End, Oswaldtwistle, denies burglary and stealing underwear.

Ian Metcalfe, prosecuting, said the young woman and her mother lived next door to Brown, who lived alone. In April, the mother went away for the weekend and her daughter had a "dinner party."

The gathering went on until the early hours but came to an end after a disturbance.

John Brown, known to the woman as 'Kel', went round to see if he could help, but the situation had been sorted out.

The daughter then decided to spend the night at her boyfriend's home.

When they returned to her house the next morning, her boyfriend noticed there appeared to be footmarks on the walls upstairs immediately below the loft hatch.

A small hole, large enough to be an eye hole, had been made in the bathroom ceiling.

Particles of debris were on the floor and on further investigation, the woman found somebody had been in her laundry basket and taken her underwear. Police were called and later went to the defendant's home.

They searched Brown's home and went into the loft.

They found the brick partition wall between Brown's house and the mother and daughter's had been partly demolished and a number of bricks had been knocked through, sufficient for an adult to climb through.

The bricks had been piled up in the loft space of Brown's house and left there with a mallet.

Mr Metcalfe said Brown's bedroom was searched and plugged into the socket officers found a lamp attached to a relatively long piece of electric flex.

It was found it would stretch through to the loft space and would illuminate it. Officers looked in the kitchen and found underwear.

Brown was interviewed by police and denied climbing through his loft space and into next door.

The defendant suggested the underwear belonged to his girlfriend, but declined to identify her.

(Proceeding)

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