A teenager was filmed on CCTV stealing a three-month-old cocker spaniel from a neighbour’s garden in broad daylight.

CCTV pictures showed Shannagh Cookson, 19, scaling a five-foot fence in Bradford on September 30 at around 11.30 am.

She then snatched Penny the dog as she was sat in a portable kennel and made off with her inside the carrier.

Another cocker spaniel called Molly watched the theft taking place but was not targeted and was found running around in the garden.

College student Cookson was later quizzed by officers but she claimed she had given Penny away to a friend as she believed the dog was being ‘ill-treated’ by her neighbour James Daniel, 49.

The father-of-two, who bought Penny for his eight-year-old daughter for £600, discovered the theft when he arrived home from a trip to the supermarket.

Cookson has refused to say where Penny is despite Mr Daniel making repeated appeals to her mother and father.

The CCTV was played at Manchester magistrates court, where Cookson admitted theft and was ordered to pay £600 compensation.

After the case, father-of-two Mr Daniel, a taxi driver, condemned the teenager’s behaviour as ‘shameless, wicked and cruel’ and said his daughter was really upset and kept begging him to get the dog back.

He added: ‘This incident has caused me and my children a lot of distress and now the lie that Shannagh is spreading about the dog being ill-treated is simply adding insult to injury.

‘Molly is Penny’s bosom friend and partner and I’m sure she’s not recovered from the shock of watching Penny being snatched.’

In mitigation defence lawyer Stephen Connor told the court: ‘In interview she accepted she had taken this dog and indeed she attended the interview on a voluntary basis.

‘Throughout the course of her interview she raised real concerns about the health of the dog that she took and the health of other puppies that she says were in the back garden.

‘She has been open with me because she was that alarmed about the health of those dogs – the CCTV actually shows her on her phone trying to get through to the RSPCA but was being kept waiting.

‘In hindsight she accepts she took a foolish decision and she regrets that.

‘The dog was given to a friend the defendant is adamant that she hasn’t received any financial gain – you are dealing with a 19-year-old lady who had never even troubled the courts.’

Cookson was also ordered to complete a 12-month community order and 150 hours unpaid work and was told to pay costs of £85.

Got a story for Metro.co.uk?

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected]. For more stories like this, check our news page.

Source: Read Full Article