A man accused of breaking into a woman's apartment claimed his fingerprint was on the window frame because he had knocked on it a week earlier looking for handyman work.

Tewolde Madhim Selassie, 29, took to the witness stand at Supreme Court yesterday to deny he broke into the woman's ground floor apartment on April 29, 2005.

The complainant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, described to a jury on Monday how she woke up at 5.30 a.m. to see a man's leg disappearing through the window. She woke up her daughter, who was sleeping in the same room, and then saw the man running down the street.

Selassie is accused of stealing the woman's handbag, which contained money, jewellery and personal items. He denies the offence. On May 5, 2005, he told the Police officer taking his fingerprints: "I told the cops they got the wrong guy."

However, when a fingerprint expert examined two marks taken from the window frame, one from the side and another from the edge, one matched the right thumb print of Selassie.

The defendant then took the witness stand, claiming he had visited the house a week earlier to ask the complainant if she needed any painting, electrical or landscaping work done.

Giving his address as "Westgate facility," Selassie claimed to have known the woman previously. "I'd seen her on numerous occasions just in passing," he said. "Once she stopped and introduced herself to me as my cousin. Other than that, when we just passed each other we just said the usual friendliness such as 'good afternoon'."

The complainant however, stated to the jury on Monday that she has never met Selassie.

Yesterday, he also claimed to have visited her house on a previous occasion, in order to find handyman work.

Selassie said: "At the time I was doing painting and electrical in the neighbourhood. The neighbours could vouch for me but I couldn't contact them due to my incarceration.

"I wanted to ask whether she needed me for painting and landscaping."

He said he knew where she lived because he recognised her car in the driveway.

"After a few knocks, because the car was in the yard, I assumed someone was home so I knocked a few times on the window close to the door."

Selassie said he did not touch the glass pane, but had knocked on the windowframe. Asked by defence lawyer Elizabeth Christopher whether he had ever been inside the house, he said: "No I haven't."

Selassie, who has braided hair, then said the woman had stated in court on Monday that the man she saw running down the road was "almost bald".

On Monday however, the complainant told the jury the man had "short, cropped hair".

Senior Crown counsel Carrington Mahoney asked him: "Are you aware of a hearing problem that you have?"

"No," replied Selassie.

Mr. Mahoney asked: "You are a person that don't tell lies?"

Selassie said: "Since I have been in this box I haven't told any lies."

Mr. Mahoney then referred to the defendant's Police statement in which, when asked "Have you ever been to that address?", he replied: "No I haven't."

Selassie told the court he had told lies in his statement as the Police were trying to "accuse" him of other crimes.

He said: "Yes, I said that many times through the statement. No, that wasn't the truth, I said 'No' many times through that interview.

"The Police brought up many unsolved crimes that, I wouldn't say frame, that's a sort of nasty word, but I would say accuse me for, and that in the line-ups I wasn't picked up in any of the line-ups.

"I know I had not broken into this house so I said 'No' I'd not been there. It was the way the detectives had been going on, I just said 'No', I had never been there."

The trial continues today.