A man who thought he was burgling a shed found two people living inside.

Ashley Rawlinson opened the door of the outbuilding in Canning Crescent, South Oxford, but was scared off by the couple inside before he could steal anything.

The 23-year-old was handed a community order with 12 months’ supervision at Oxford Crown Court yesterday after admitting one count of a dwelling burglary.

Prosecutor Lee Harris said the incident took place on November 19, 2010.

He said the shed was “double-glazed, had electricity and heating and was, in all respects, a dwelling”. The homeowners were living there, he said, because they had lodgers in the main house.

Benjamin Narain, defending, said his client “thought it was a shed” and was “going into it to steal a bike”.

Judge Mary Jane Mowat also ordered him to attend the Thinking Skills programme.