A would-be robber has denied the charge of attempted burglary because, he claims, he was “too big” to fit through the window.

Simon Edwards, 54, was found by police holding a ladder outside a local MOT centre in Warwick.

And that's when he made the odd claim to officers.

A Warwick Crown Court jury failed to believe his claim, and took just 43 minutes to find him guilty last year – he appealed it, and was given a retrial by the Court of Appeal.

However, he was found guilty for a second time on Thursday.

Edwards was spotted outside the garage in the early hours of April 15, 2019 wearing gloves and carrying two ladders.

Prosecutor Alex Pritchard-Jones said: “At 4.16 in the morning an alarm was activated at its premises, and the owner was alerted by the alarm company and made his way there.

“Meanwhile two police officers also headed to the scene to investigate why the alarm had gone off, and they saw Edwards near the premises.

“When he saw them, he tried to make off, but was stopped and arrested.

“We say he said: ‘I was trying to get into the place, and I failed.’”

The jury heard Edwards claim that he had driven to the area and parked in the nearby Jewson’s car park to look for a tractor tyre to use to help get himself fit – ironically.

He said he was searching waste land, believing that if he took a tyre from there he would not be committing any offence.

Nick Devine, defending, said: “The officer in the case saw the window, and he saw Mr Edwards.

“He confessed that in his view Simon Edwards could not have got through that window because of his size and physique.

“Even if he could have got through that window, given his condition, he’s supposed to have scaled the wall of the premises, got onto the roof and would then have had to heave the ladder onto the roof.

“He carts it over the roof, smashes the window, lowers the ladder and goes in and has a look round and climbs back out and pulls the ladder back up, carries it across the roof and lowers it down to climb down.

“He’s supposed to have done all that in his physical condition. That is utterly impossible.”

Edwards was bailed and ordered to return to court at a later date for sentencing.

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