A SHOPKEEPER who challenged a teenager he found wearing a stolen T-shirt went on trial accused of falsely imprisoning him in his shop.

Richard Barnes, 36, claims to have seen 19-year-old Daniel Westerman - who admits handling stolen goods - trying on the T-shirt in his shop the day before.

Barnes suspected he had stolen the £20 Nike running shirt when he walked past his shop the next day.

He politely asked him to come in, and told him: "Pay for the shirt or take it off," Hull Crown Court heard.

Barnes shut the door at his store, Sports Direct, in Butcher Row, Beverley, East Yorkshire. He is accused of dropping the latch, thereby preventing the young man leaving and imprisoning him against his will.

Mr Westerman claims he was imprisoned for 20 minutes but an independent witness, Susan Walmsley, told the jury it was between 40 and 60 seconds.

Barnes denied kicking the door shut, swearing or dropping the latch, and insists Westerman was violent to him.

Barnes, 36, of Thatched Close, Selby, denies falsely imprisoning Mr Westerman at his shop or assaulting him on March 14.

Mr Westerman, who claims he had never been in the shop before, told the jury he thought the shopkeeper "might have wanted a hand" so was not worried when he heard him call in the street "Can I have a word with you please".

Mr Westerman told the jury he was not dragged into the shop, but claimed Barnes started swearing at him and accusing him of being a thief after kicking the door shut and dropping a latch.

Giving evidence, Mr Westerman told the jury that Barnes punched him after trying to drag the T-shirt off him knocking him into a display of training shoes.

He received a bruised face and ran out of the shop and met his mother, who then called the police.

He kept saying: "Give me the shirt back or £20," said Mr Westerman.

Under cross-examination he initially denied stealing the T-shirt but admitted he had been given a police caution for receiving stolen goods.

He said he bought the T-shirt from a man in a pub and was told it was off the back of a lorry.

He said: "I asked him where it had come from. He said it came from the back of a lorry. I didn't know the terminology of that at the time."

The jury were told Barnes had subsequently made a formal complaint of theft against the teenager, which resulted in the police caution.

Barnes told police he hit out after Westerman lunged at him and threw a punch which missed.

The jury heard Barnes had no previous convictions and served in the Army for three years before running the shop.

He told police he was a law-abiding citizen who didn't report the theft when it initially took place because he was too busy working 60-70 hours a week in his shop.

The trial continues.

Updated: 15:35 Tuesday, July 30, 2002