A MAN accused of stealing piles of dirty underwear and sex toys over a number of years told jurors his DNA may have been found after a sneeze.

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

The 39-year-old took to the witness box as his trial at Oxford Crown Court continued yesterday.

Before giving evidence to the jury, he first explained his absence which saw the trial continue without him on Thursday, when he left for Devon after becoming ‘stressed’ at proceedings.

Later answering questions from defence barrister Lyall Thompson, Granville told the court that his DNA had been found on three sex toys seized by police in one of two garages he was using by pure coincidence.

Recalling coming home on a ‘windy’ day sometime in June or July 2016 he said: “There was a Tesco carrier bag, not blowing [in the wind], and I didn’t want to run over it in case there was anything in it.

“I had clammy hands and just as I was about to get out of the car I did sneeze into the car.”

He said he then went to get the bag to move it out of the way before putting his hands inside and feeling ‘three rubbery cylindrical’ objects.

He added: “I thought it was a bit strange and someone might have dropped it.

“I moved it to the left of the hedge and left it here.”

Asked later why he did not simply move the bag to one side before putting his fingers inside, he told the court: “I thought if it was anything valuable that someone had dropped I would take it to the police station.”

The court heard the contents of his iPhone and iPad were later examined by police and the analysis showed 3,730 separate visits to a used underwear sharing website.

From the witness box Granville denied visiting the site or visiting any other pornographic sites relating to stealing used underwear or being caught stealing pants.

When quizzed on who else would access his mobile phone, which was locked by a PIN code, he said he ‘did not know’, nor did he know who else would have accessed the two garages in which police found several bags filled with ladies and children’s underwear.

He told jurors that the high number of visits to the website on his phone and tablet had been a ‘coincidence’.

During cross-examination later, prosecutor Sarah Ellis put to Granville: “It is clear as crystal that you had an obsession of some kind with ladies' underwear for a very long time.

“If that is an obsession you have, so be it, but what is not acceptable was to start prowling your neighbourhood to steal it from other people.”

Granville denies all charges and the trial continues.