A 'FETISHIST' filled two garages with stolen underwear and sex toys snatched from homes and from washing lines in Abingdon, a court heard yesterday.

Perry Granville, of Saxton Road, Abingdon, denies one count of burglary, one of attempted burglary and two counts of theft.

Oxford Crown Court heard at the start of his trial how, when police investigated the apparent clothing thefts, they discovered a haul of women’s and children’s underwear as well as vibrators in two garages.

The clothing, the court heard, had all been taken from nearby residents over the course of a number of years and phones and tablets seized from Granville appeared to show frequent visits to a website for buying and selling used underwear.

Giving an overview of the case against Granville, prosecutor Sarah Ellis told jurors that the 39-year was a fetishist with an obsession for used underwear.

She told the court: “Mr Granville is a man who the prosecution say had a fetish of some kind for ladies' clothing, in particular ladies' underwear, frequently used underwear.

“The crown say that he plainly did have an obsession and it is one he did have for many years.

“It is clear he has this fetish – which is not an offence – but what was not acceptable was to go along to the neighbourhood and take these items in the way in which we say he did.”

She added that Granville had also frequently visited a website purporting to be a platform for buying and selling used underwear, as well as pornographic websites which featured used underwear and ‘sniffing underwear'.

The apparent thefts only came to light, the court heard, in August 2016 when one woman reported to police a number of items of clothing having gone missing over a number of years.

The court heard that she had initially ignored it saying she ‘thought she was going mad’ but later took the apparent coincidences to be of a more sinister nature.

When police did investigate, they questioned Granville and discovered two garages which prosecutors maintain he was in charge of and which were found to have ‘vast quantities of stuff’ inside including several bags of ladies' underwear.

Officers also discovered three vibrators which prosecutors said had Granville's DNA on them.

On one apparent attempted break-in, the court heard, a child was at home when a man – who prosecutors say was Granville – knocked on the door before trying the handle to gain entry.

The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told police that she recalled a man coming to the door and trying the handle twice before lingering in the garden for some minutes.

The child added that she had noticed various items of clothing mysteriously going missing over the last two years before the incident.

When questioned by police, the court heard, Granville said that he knew nothing about the thefts and when asked how the items had come to be in the garage he said he ‘simply did not know’.

Granville denies all charges and the trial continues.