A WOULD-BE burglar hid in a field and was bitten by a police dog after trying to steal thousands of pounds worth of steel, a jury heard.

Andrew Fitzsimons, of St James Cottages, Grove, near Wantage, denies one count of burglary at Field Barn Farm, near Abingdon, on May 14 last year.

The 42-year-old is accused of trying to steal between £10,000 and £15,000 worth of stainless steel from a business unit rented by Caribbean Cookers.

Simon Ward, prosecuting, told the jury that the alarm was raised by Paul Booker – whose business is nearby – when he heard metal being moved just after midnight.

The barrister said police officers discovered the Caribbean Cookers unit had been broken into and the metal was stacked up outside.

He said a police German Shepherd named Jet got a scent from the crime scene and set off towards nearby fields, dragging its handler behind.

Mr Ward added that Fitzsimons was found by the dog in a ditch near the A338 and had to receive treatment at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford after it bit him.

The defendant, who also uses a unit at the site, told the officers he was hiding from four men with iron bars who had carried out the burglary and chased him away.

Mr Ward said: “We say that the dog got it right and tracked him from the scene of the burglary to where he was hiding.”

The trial continues.