TWO teenagers were yesterday acquitted of attempted burglary when they appeared before magistrates in Newton Aycliffe.
Jamie Dann Bradley, 18, of Burnhope, in Newton Aycliffe, and a 16-year-old boy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, had denied entering a house in Chilton with the intention to steal.
The court heard that police had been called to a house in Dene Terrace on June 27, last year, following reports of suspicious activity at the property and found the pair inside.
Both teenagers admitted being inside the house without authority but denied intending to steal anything.
They claimed they had found a broken window at the back of the house and climbed inside to look for a football they believed was inside.
Finding them not guilty, chair of the bench Eileen Anderson said: "We do not find this excuse plausible. However we are not satisfied beyond all reasonable doubt that there was any intent to steal."
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