Man denies burglary, carrying weapon in lodging house visit

It is alleged that Ross Christopher Le Page, who appeared from custody, entered a room at the Carlton Inn with another and stole medicinal cannabis, a jar of loose coins, a laptop, an iPad, a Bluetooth speaker, and two portable phone chargers.

Mr Le Page also denies carrying an offensive weapon, a golf club, in public without reasonable excuse.

The court was told that his co-accused, Ben Le Prevost, had admitted these offences previously.

Crown Advocate Fiona Russell, prosecuting, showed CCTV footage from the night of 21 January 2022, which showed two men, their faces covered, entering the hotel by a back door.

A camera also showed them in the hall outside one of the rooms, when one of them walked up to it and the camera went blank.

The footage also showed the men leaving the hotel.

On checking CCTV recordings later that night, the hotel owner saw live footage showing two men entering the same door, both of them carrying golf clubs.

They were shown waiting in a stairwell for several minutes.

Police were called and arrived while the two men were still on the site, but they ran off.

Later, the passport belonging to the complainant, the man who lived in the room, was recovered nearby.

The complainant denied a claim by Advocate Samuel Steel, who is representing Mr Le Page, that the electronic items had not been stolen and that he had invented the theft to get compensation.

He and Mr Le Page’s estranged wife were in a relationship, he said, and denied accusations that he had been physically abusive towards her and damaged her property.

Mr Le Page gave evidence and spoke about an incident during which the other man turned up at the woman’s house while Mr Le Page was visiting and pushed a door into her face while also assaulting Mr Le Page.

The man was arrested as a result of this and also following other alleged actions in relation to the woman and her property, but no charges had ever been brought, the court was told.

On the night of the alleged offence, Mr Le Page and Le Prevost had been working together when the defendant received a call from his upset estranged wife alleging further abuse from the man.

It was Mr Le Page’s idea to go to the hotel to show the man what it was like to have someone turn up and make them feel scared, he said.

He admitted disconnecting the CCTV camera to avoid being identified if there was a confrontation.

He had not taken anything and was not aware of Le Prevost doing so either.

It was because the man had not been home that they went back later.

They had taken the clubs for intimidation but had not talked to the man because a girl had been in the hallway. They ran off when the police arrived.

Under cross-examination by Crown Advocate Russell, Mr Le Page said the hammer and golf clubs would not have been used against the man.

He had picked up the passport but said he had put it back.

The case continues.