entering yesterday identified a safe stolen in one of the burglaries.

And in a bizarre coincidence, SKB Coating controller Norette Simmons was also able to pick out her stereo player, stolen in another of the raids.

In the second week of the trial of Arnett Dill, Ms Simmons said that the safe, stolen from her workplace during a Christmas crime spree last year, was easy to identify because it contained amongst other things, various company letters.

The key to the safe was later recovered from Dill while he was on remand at Westgate.

Ms Simmons also proved a useful witness to the prosecution when she explained that a boombox, recovered from Dill's home, belonged to her.

She told the court how she had taken it to the Audio Visual Electronics repair store after a CD became stuck inside. The store was raided the following night and the boombox later recovered from Dill's home with the CD still stuck in it .

Also called to the witness stand was Trimingham's Somerset branch store manager Diane Christie, who confirmed that more than $30,000 worth of jewellery, again found at Dill's home on Leacraft Hill Road, Southampton, in January, had been stolen from the store on the evening of January 3.

The raid netted the culprits nearly $37,000 in jewellery, clothing, camera equipment, cash and cosmetics.

So far the prosecution has presented more than 100 items of stolen property as evidence in the trial, which is expected to last at least until the end of the week.

Dill also faces five counts of receiving stolen property, two counts of wilful damage and one count of arson after the Audio Visual Electronics store was burned down in the break-in.

Dill's co-accused, John Jefferis, was sentenced to three years imprisonment earlier this month after pleading guilty to three of the break-ins.