Dudley man chases burglar from home after alerted by pet dogs

Burglar Jonathan Cartwright crept in through a back door of the property in Seymour Road, Lye, whilst the homeowner watched TV in the lounge.

But his pet dogs' barks raised the alarm and directed the 45-year-old to the kitchen where he found prolific crook Jonathan Cartwright rooted to the spot.

He chased Cartwright, from Thorns Road in Quarry Bank, out into the garden but lost sight of him after he scrambled over a fence on April 26 last year.

However, he gave Dudley detectives an accurate description of the offender – recalling him as "ginger and gaunt looking" – which was enough to point local officers towards Cartwright.

The 32-year-old was arrested on July 22 in connection with a break-in at Netherton Park Family Centre when two men were shown on CCTV breaking into a shed before fleeing when motion sensors triggered an alarm.

Detectives quizzed him about the Lye burglary and, confident the homeowner wouldn't be able to recognise him almost two months on, agreed to take part in an ID parade – but his cockiness backfired when the dog-lover emphatically picked him out!

He denied being involved in the burglary but on Friday a jury at Wolverhampton Crown Court found him guilty following a three-day trial; he was subsequently jailed for three years.

Dudley Police Detective Constable Sean Lowe, said: "We know our more prolific offenders inside out and from the description provided, plus the tactic used to gain entry, we immediately suspected Cartwright was the offender.

"The homeowner did a fantastic job to remember Cartwright's image and immediately pick him out during the ID procedure. He tried claiming he was at home with his partner on the night but couldn't recall a single detail…and his defence was seen through by the jury.

"Cartwright is a prolific burglar and people across Dudley are safer with him behind bars."

The sentence comes at a time when burglary rates across the West Midlands have dropped to an all-time low.