A Tesco security guard appeared in front of a crown court judge after handing himself in to police.

A warrant for Darnel McKail’s arrest was issued by Recorder Alexander McGregor earlier this week after the 26-year-old failed to attend Oxford Crown Court.

The West Bromwich man is accused of stealing an ‘antique gun’ worth £650 in a burglary of a pensioner’s home in Witney last August. He denies the charge.

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On Thursday (May 4), Gordana Austin said her client had not received the message that he was due at court. It was only when he rang his solicitors on Tuesday afternoon that he learned there was a warrant out for his arrest.

By the time he attended court on Wednesday, it was too late for the case to be heard. He handed himself in at the police station.

Granting him bail to return for his trial in the autumn, Recorder McGregor said: “It’s a sorry tale, really. But an unsatisfactory situation in many ways.”