Jurors have retired to consider their verdicts in the trial of a woman accused of robbing a drug addict.

Rebecca Tremlett, 26, denies lying in wait with her then boyfriend Colin Sumner for the alleged victim to appear from the flats behind the Underhill Circus shops in Barton in the early hours of May 23, 2019, then rifling through his pockets as her co-accused held him down.

Giving evidence at Oxford Crown Court yesterday (January 11), said she had gone to bed at around 10pm on May 22 with her partner and woke up the following morning.

READ MORE: Prosecution opens case in Barton 'robbery' trial

She knew nothing about what happened until she received a Facebook message from the alleged victim complaining of the robbery, she said.

She had messaged him previously to meet to take drugs together, although she said they did not in fact meet on the night of the alleged robbery.

Jurors have previously heard that a message was sent to the complainant from Tremlett’s Facebook profile accusing him of being a ‘grass’ and saying she was ‘not happy’.

Summing up the case to the jury on Wednesday, Judge Michael Gledhill KC noted that the defendant had been absent for the first day of her trial.

He reminded them she said she had moved house and had not received a letter informing her of the trial, she said.

"We'll put all that behind us," the judge said of her absence on the first day.

In fact, the dock was empty as he said the words. The judge told the jury at the start of the afternoon session yesterday: "Ms Tremlett has left the building to go to the shops and is on her way back, apparently. I'm going to carry on in her absence, but don't hold it against her."

Tremlett, of Donnington Bridge Road, Oxford, has pleaded not guilty to robbery. The trial continues.

Read more from this author

This story was written by Tom Seaward. He joined the team in 2021 as Oxfordshire's court and crime reporter.  

To get in touch with him email: Tom.Seaward@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @t_seaward