THE north Oxford home of a former Government minister was broken into by a burglar who graffitied his walls and drank beer in his kitchen, a court heard.

Benjamin Strong, of Aldrich Road, Oxford, is accused of burgling the home of Brooks Newmark while he was away on a charity trip to Rwanda in August 2017.

As his trial began at Oxford Crown Court yesterday, the jury heard how Strong, 20, had only been implicated in the burglary after his DNA was found on the top of the can of beer left discarded in Mr Newmark's cottage.

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A Conservative MP for Braintree from 2005-2015, Mr Newmark took to the stand for the prosecution to describe the scene when he returned to his home in Winchester Road.

He said: "I walked in through the front door. I have a small passageway and on my right is the sitting room.

Oxford Mail:

"My shelves were all empty and my cupboards were open.

"I walked through into my kitchen and noticed there was an incredible mess.

"The floor crunched beneath me and my feet were sticking.

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"Someone had spilt a drink all over the floor and then put salt or sugar all over it."

He went on to describe visiting the other rooms of his two bed cottage and noticing items had been taken including around 20 bottles of drink which had disappeared from his drinks cabinet.

When asked by the prosecutor Mr Hollingsworth if he would describe his home as being 'ransacked', he said yes.

Oxford Mail:

Lewd graffiti including references to penises had been scrawled over the walls.

Items stolen included African figurines, a gold sweet plate, a silver plated menorah and gold cufflinks, according to the prosecution.

No suspects had been linked to the case until the beer can was swabbed and the DNA matched that of Strong with a one in one billion chance of it being wrong.

It is thought there were more people involved in the burglary but Strong is the only person who has so far been caught.

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Mr Hollingsworth said: "Whoever broke into the house drunk the beer and left the can discarded at the scene.

"The defendant has never put forward any explanation about why his DNA was there."

Born in the United States, Mr Newmark attended Oxford University as a student and returned to the city as a guest lecturer in the politics department upon finishing his parliamentary career.

He was away from his home between August 1 and 22, and it is not known exactly when the burglary took place, or how long the intruders were occupying the house.

Strong denies one count of burglary. The trial, expected to last between two and three days, continues.