Naked suspect, 26, hid behind TV set in Shropshire police raid
A man found hiding behind a television set when police raided his home denied he was trying to avoid being arrested.
Nicholas Alexander told a jury he was naked and trying to hide his modesty when officers discovered him in the bedroom of his girlfriend's home.
The 26-year-old was disturbed by detectives investigating a break-in at a £250,000 detached house in Wootton, near Bridgnorth, Stafford Crown court heard.
Mr Stephen Brown, prosecuting, claimed there was a crucial five minutes between police entering the house and reaching the bedroom during which Alexander removed a sim card from his mobile phone. Mr Brown said it would have provided evidence incriminating Alexander in the break-in.
Mr Brown claimed that Alexander's girlfriend created a commotion and deliberately obstructed the police from going upstairs in order to buy him time.
Asked why he did not come down to see what was going on, Alexander said: "Yes, I was hiding but that was because I was putting my clothes on, trying not to expose myself."
Alexander, along with Levi Wilson, 19, Donovan Wilson, 18, Omari Maitland, 18, and Simone O'Neil, 22, all deny burglary at the detached house in Wootton where a £7,500 Audi A6 , keys to a BMW motorbike, handbag containing cash and bank cards and a laptop were stolen.
Alexander, of Bilston, brothers Levi and Donovan Wilson, both of Dudley, Maitland, of Park Village, Wolverhampton, and O'Neil, of Willenhall, also deny being in possession of the imitation weapons.
The case continues.
