Burglar with 250 convictions caught red handed and bitten on the ear by police dog in Milton Keynes

Jason Cox, 44, stole a pizza delivery man's car and drove to a One Stop shop in MK to break in through the roof and steal alcohol.

But he found himself trapped and unable to get out again, an Aylesbury Crown Court judge heard.

The shop's alarm went off and police sped to the scene with a tracker dog. They found the shop in darkness, with cigarettes and bottles of alcohol strewn across the floor.

"The dog went in through one of the delivery doors and the defendant, wearing a grey woolly hat, was found laying under a shopping trolley," said Johnathan Stone, prosecuting,

The dog bit the defendant, quite a nasty bite to the ear and he was taken to hospital where he was treated."

Meanwhile Cox's accomplice, a man he'd instructed to act as lookout, had fled after the shop alarm was triggered and it became clear that Cox was unable to escape, the court heard.

The judge was told that Cox, of no fixed abode, had only been out of prison for one day and had £46 cash, which he spent on alcohol.

Just after midnight on February 19 he stole a Papa John's pizza delivery man's car, which had been left running outside the takeaway restaurant and drove to the One Stop shop.

He admitted burglary and taking a vehicle without consent.

The court hear Cox had been alcohol-dependent since the age of 14. He has appeared in court 56 times and has been convicted of 250 offences, including dangerous driving, drug-driving and robbery

Defending, Neil Jarvis said of the burglary: "It was a shop and unsurprisingly it stored alcohol. He (Cox) described it as a lobster pot. He managed to get in but he could not get out again. The alarm was activated. The dog did bite Mr Cox and he suffered injury to his ear."

He added: "He feels safer in custody, which is a very sad thing to say. There has been a breakdown between him and the agencies who support him."

Sentencing, Judge Catherine Tulk told Cox: "You have committed 250 offences. A quick totting up on my part shows you have committed 31 offences of burglary, sometimes houses, sometimes commercial properties, 35 offences of taking other people's cars. Pretty much everything that can be there is there.

"You were released on licence on February 17. One day later, you are committing a further offence.

"You went into the One Stop shop in Milton Keynes. The alarm was activated, you had broken into that shop by the roof. The shop holder rang for the police and they arrived he went into the premises with them and you were found by a police dog, hiding in the back of the shop.

"You had gone in to see if you could steal the alcohol and having got in, apparently you found it very difficult to get out and that is why you were there as a sitting target when the police dog arrived."

Judge Tulk, sitting via Skype, sentenced Cox, of no fixed abode, to a 10-month jail sentence but suspended it for 18 months.

The judge warned: "This time, make sure you communicate with probation."