A JURY has cleared a man accused of breaking into a Penarth jewellers and stealing more than £3,500 worth of items.

John Peterson, 35, went on trial at Cardiff Crown Court accused breaking into Penarth's Northern Star jewellers in November last year, making off with thousands of pounds worth of rings and causing more than £6,000 worth of damage.

Mr Peterson, who lives in Barry but was born and raised in Kipling Close, Penarth denied being one of the two men captured on CCTV breaking into the Windsor Road Arcade store after being identified independently by two police officers.

At around 2am on Saturday, November 8 two men smashed their way into the jewellery shop stealing a quantity of silver rings from a display case.

CCTV images had earlier captured the same two men walking past the shop and looking in the window.

When these images were circulated among police officers, two detective constables independently came to the conclusion that one of the men involved was Mr Peterson.

Giving evidence in court, DC Tony Davies had cited Mr Peterson's distinctive hairline, forehead and eyebrow line as being the features that led him to this conclusion - having known and interacted with Peterson many times over many years.

Mr Peterson - who had been released from prison a month prior to the incident and has a history of carrying out domestic burglaries - gave evidence in court that not only was the man in the CCTV footage not him but he hadn't even set foot in Penarth from the time of his release in October until the following January when he visited his mother to collect Christmas presents.

While on the stand Mr Peterson accepted that the man in the footage resembled him facially but said: "He has similarities to probably a 1000 people. That is not me."

Mr Peterson's mother Gail Peterson also took the stand to say that she believed the man in the CCTV images was not her son.

In closing the defence case Adam Sharp told the jury that none of the property stolen from Northern Star has ever been recovered or linked to Mr Peterson, clarifying that "the only evidence is the opinion of the police officers and the CCTV footage".

He said: "The property taken in this burglary was of a high value. It would have needed to have been traded, pawned or sold and that usually leads to a trail.

"None of the property has ever been recovered or linked to this defendant. That points towards someone outside the area who is able to dispose of the items."

After close to three hours deliberation and twice returning a note stating they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict, Judge Patrick Curran accepted a majority verdict of not guilty.