A confessed robber who ran screaming from an isolated Staffordshire bungalow with a three-foot Samurai sword sticking out of his arm told a jury he travelled to the property from Liverpool to steal a vanload of cigarettes he claimed was parked in the driveway.

Carl Evans (41) said in evidence at Stafford Crown Court yesterday that he was not wearing a balaclava mask which contained his DNA from blood and saliva at the time of an aggravated burglary at the four bedroom bungalow in Watling Street, Cannock, in January this year.

"I have not got a clue how my DNA is on the balaclava," he said. "I went to the back of the house. I was not wearing a balaclava and went through a smashed patio window. I did not know where my colleagues were.

"As soon as I stepped in through the patio window I was confronted by a man with two swords. I panicked and wanted to get away. I wanted to get my colleagues.

I asked him what he was going to do. I was about four or five feet into the house. I was just shocked to see someone standing there with two swords in their hands. I asked him to put them down and he said 'What are you going to do now, you bastard?' I thought he was going for my chest but he hit me in the arm."

Evans, of Rosewarne Close, Liverpool, pleaded not guilty to aggravated burglary while armed with a screwdriver and wounding 60-year-old company director Cedric Hammonds, with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm. He has pleaded guilty to robbing Hammonds' wife Patricia of a ring and keys. Quizzed by Simon Phillips, prosecuting, Evans refused to name the two men with him on the night of the burglary. "I would not like to disclose their names because of fear for my life," he said.

Mr Hammonds told the jury earlier that he was waiting for his wife to come home when his front door " burst open like an explosion".

He said he went for his swords in the lounge. "I saw the man in the dock and I went after him to frighten him to death, I hope. Someone grabbed me from behind and threw me to the floor. I know I hit the man coming towards me with the Samurai sword then lost hold of it. I don't know where I hit him, but I hit him."

The trial continues.