Sandys Parish man Derrick Duval Binns broke an elderly man's jaw during a burglary, a Supreme Court jury heard yesterday.

Basil Hassell, 65, was beaten up when two men broke into his nephew's house in Cambridge Road, Sandys on December 28, 2001, and stole some money, said Crown counsel Vinette Graham-Allen.

Binns, 34, of George's Bay Road, Sandys, denies burglary and wounding Mr. Hassell with intent to disfigure him.

Ms Graham-Allen said Binns was with Roddelle Lightbourne, who was not before the court and who had already pleaded guilty in relation to the incident.

She told the jury: "He (Binns) went to the complainant's house. The complainant went to bed about 10 p.m. and he was awoken by a strange noise about six that morning.

"It sounded as if a lock or knob was moving. He went to investigate and he was attacked by two men. He was beaten and received injuries including a broken jawbone.

"The men demanded money and stole money. Basil Hassell was assisted by a neighbour who got the Police and he was hospitalised."

Donald Hassell, the owner and operator of the Country Squire Restaurant in Somerset, told the court his uncle Basil came to live with him in mid-December, sleeping on a sofa in the living room.

He said he and his family were on a cruise and returned to Bermuda on December 30 to find out his house had been burgled.

"The house was ransacked, there was a lot of blood everywhere," Mr. Hassell told the jury.

He said a cookie type tin with money in it had been stolen from his bedroom and a telephone had been ripped off a wall in the kitchen.

Det. Con. Steven Palmer of the Police Forensics Unit told the court he was called to the house on the morning of December 29 and found prints outside a door handle.

Inside, he found bloodstains by a piano, at a doorway, on a newspaper, and on a telephone.

After photographing the scene, he went to Somerset Cricket Club and found a stained napkin in a trash container. Det. Con. Palmer also photographed the injuries to Mr. Hassell's face at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

Binns is represented by Craig Attridge and Victoria Pearman. Ms Graham-Allen is assisted by Wayne Caines.

The trial before Assistant Justice Charles-Etta Simmons continues today.