A BIZARRE row over whether a burglary victim was almost naked at the time of the raid on her home broke out in court.

Lee James had admitted targeting an address in Woodbury Avenue, Bournemouth on September 19 2018. He had been released from prison just three weeks earlier.

He took a large black purse from a handbag, but dropped it as he scaled a fence to escape.

James, of Gresham Road, Bournemouth, claimed he did not enter the bungalow to steal the purse, but was standing outside and reached in to grab it.

The defendant, 41, also said he dropped the purse because he "felt awful" about his crime.

Both claims were contested by the prosecution, and a Newton hearing - held in cases where there is conflicting evidence but a defendant has admitted a charge - took place at Bournemouth Crown Court.

However, during the hearing, the victim said she saw James in her house when she was wearing just a thong. The burglar denied the claim, and told the court: "I'd remember if I saw a naked woman."

The victim, who gave evidence at court, said she repeatedly shouted "get out" at James after seeing him in her house. She said she then put on a dressing gown and called police before hurling a flip-flop at him as he climbed over a garden fence.

"I was concentrating on getting him out of my house, especially considering the fact that I wasn't wearing any clothes," she said.

"I got to the sliding doors. I wasn't going to run outside because I didn't have any clothes on. That's when I threw my shoe."

Asked to clarify where she had seen James, she said: "I was in my knickers and he was in my lounge standing over my handbag."

However, James denied seeing the victim at all until he was climbing over the fence. She was wearing a "powder blue dressing gown" when he spotted her, he said.

"It's nonsense," he said.

"I'd remember if I saw a naked woman."

Speaking via a video link from prison, James said: "I've been here for three months and it's the first I'm hearing about [the victim] being naked.

"It's a bit of a shock to me. It sounds like it's been turned into something else."

He also said there would have been no time for the victim to go back inside, put on her dressing gown and begin calling police before coming to the door as he climbed over the fence.

"None of this makes any sense. It's just nonsense," he said.

"She did about four things at once when I was on the fence."

Stuart Ellacott, prosecuting, replied: "The person who has made things up is, in fact, you."

James said: "Well, you would say that - you're her b****y barrister."

Judge Jonathan Fuller QC ruled James had been inside the victim's home, rather than standing outside of it. The defendant had also dropped the purse because he was fumbling, rather than because he felt bad, he said.

The judge did not make a ruling on whether James had seen the victim naked or not.

"It does not make that much difference to me whether she was or she wasn't," he said.

James, a drug addict with some 31 convictions for 77 offences - including 19 home burglaries - was sentenced to 32 months in prison.