Three men have been cleared of burglary after telling a jury a woman invited them to take medication from a 'secret compartment' in a garden.

Danny Kernaghan, James Poole, and Harrison Randall faced a charge of burglary each during a trial at Southampton Crown Court.

The men, all from Southampton, were accused of stealing clothing, jewellery, and handbags worth £65,000 from woman's home in Purcell Road, Sholing.

All three defendants denied involvement in the incident on May 15, 2023 and said they had been invited to take medication from the garden.

They told the court the woman - the alleged victim - said a bag of pregabalin, medication commonly used to treat epilepsy and anxiety, could be found in the garden.

They denied entering the house. Jurors returned not guilty verdicts on Thursday after three and a half hours of deliberations.

During the trial, Kernaghan, 39, of Golden Grove, Southampton, told the court he did “not know” where he was on May 15 and that he was not involved in any burglary.

He did accept he was in Sholing but said he did “not remember where he was or how he got there.”

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The court heard the men said they had been invited to take a stash of pregabalin from the home in Sholing.

In his summing up of the trial, judge Nicholas Rowland told the court how the defendants described receiving a Facetime call from the alleged victim in the case, who told them to “go through the back gate” of the property.

CCTV footage played in court showed the gate being kicked open, a decision made by the defendants as “the gate was locked”.

Judge Rowland added: “The defendants said they were told by the alleged victim there was a secret compartment in the decking.

“This was found, and a duffle bag was dug up. Nobody went into the building at all, they said, and this case was described as ‘an insurance claim’ by them.

“The defendants said no tools were taken or used for the alleged burglary, adding that if they had tools, why did they kick the gate open?

“Boxes of pregabalin and a bag of liquid Viagra were found in the bag [the court heard]”.

Poole, 28, of Bugle Street; Randall, 31, of Poole Road, both in Southampton; and Kernaghan all denied burglary.