A HOUSE lodger pinched a laptop and an iPod from his neighbour before pawning the latter off at a Cowley Road shop, a court heard.

Kevin Hardman, of no fixed abode, denies one count of burglary and another of theft.

Prosecutors at Oxford Crown Court claim the 45-year-old stole the electronic items while he was lodging at a house in Oxford in May last year.

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Outlining the case at the start of his trial yesterday, prosecutor Alexandra Bull said that Hardman had been staying at the house, as had a second lodger – his alleged victim.

She told jurors that Hardman had repeatedly borrowed a laptop from his fellow lodger and room neighbour, and taken it upon himself to create his own login details.

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The U-Play exchange on Cowley Road where the victim said he later found his iPod.

One day in May, prosecutors said, the alleged victim discovered that the laptop as well as an iPod Touch had disappeared, and so had Hardman.

In a text message read to the court, Hardman said he would return the laptop as soon as he was back.

Prosecutors went on to say that the alleged victim later checked a U-Play exchange store at Cowley Road for the missing items.

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Here, the court heard, the iPod was confirmed to have been sold by Hardman, and it was after that discovery in July that police arrested him.

At interview, Miss Bull told jurors, Hardman told police the items had been given to him as ‘gifts’.

Hardman denies both counts and the trial, which is expected to last two days, continues.