A dognapper was caught out after leaving 30 cans of Diet Coke in a stranger's shed. Christopher Doyle smashed his way into the outbuilding using a hammer but was disturbed mid-theft. This led to the dad-of-three abandoning the soft drinks which he had pilfered from a neighbour's shed, where he had earlier left behind a trail of blood. Two stolen puppies were then unexpectedly discovered inside his home when police came knocking at his door.
Court Details
Liverpool Crown Court heard today, Thursday, that Doyle, of Rolleston Street in Bewsey, Warrington, targeted the sheds of two homes on St Peter's Way in the town at around 3.15am on November 30 last year. Having used a hammer to prise open the doors and a torch to search inside, the 41-year-old was disturbed in the process of rifling through an outbuilding belonging to Samantha Wilcox.
Matthew Dixon, prosecuting, described how this had been built by her now deceased father-in-law and held a "great deal of sentimental value", but was left "irreparably damaged" as a result of the break-in. She thereafter found 30 cans of Diet Coke belonging to her neighbour John Bent, with the drinks and a Karcher jet wash, valued at £200, having been taken from his own shed.
Identification and Arrest
Doyle was identified as being the culprit from blood left at this property, as well as CCTV footage. This led to police attending his home on January 9 this year in order to effect his arrest, at which stage officers noticed two puppies matching the description of dogs which had been stolen from a property on Norley Close on December 29 2025.
It was subsequently established that Doyle had attended this address at around 7am on the date in question with a friend, who was the housemate of occupant Steven Cadman. He woke up later the same day to discover that two dogs from his litter of six Cane Corso puppies were missing.
Defence and Sentencing
Doyle has a total of 36 previous convictions for 65 offences, including robbery and burglary. Scarlett Wilson, defending, told the court that her client was "no criminal mastermind" and had been remanded into custody between January 10 and March 26, after which he was released on bail and served 77 days on an electronically monitored curfew.
She added: "The last time Mr Doyle was in front of the crown court was in 2012. Last year, Mr Doyle was the victim of a street robbery, where he sustained a serious injury to his head and was in a coma for three months. This means that he suffers mood swings. It can lead to confusion and memory issues. His decision making is sometimes impaired. From there, he further suffered a head injury when he was arrested in January, which certainly cannot have helped."
"He has lived at his current accommodation for 17 years with no issues. He has some relationship with his three children, but he currently has no contact. His biggest concern is losing his accommodation."
Doyle admitted two counts of burglary and one of theft. He was handed a 12-month community order with a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 30 days, also being told to pay £500 in compensation to Ms Wilcox and £200 to Mr Bent.
Sentencing, Recorder Carwyn Cox said: "You have 36 convictions for 65 offences. It is not a glowing picture at all. It is right to say that the most serious offences were carried out a considerable period of time ago now. More recently, there appears to be a continued set of behaviour throughout 2025 of you going into shops and stealing items. There does appear to be an element of responsibility which can be laid at your use of alcohol."
"When you are drunk, you appear not to be able to control your behaviour. You have friends who obviously are not a good influence on you either. I bear in mind that you have suffered a brain injury. Given you have spent a period of time in custody on remand and, since you have been bailed, you have been subject to monitoring by an electronic tag, you have served the equivalent of a four-and-a-half month prison sentence. That is something the court has to bear in mind. If I imposed a suspended sentence order, there would be no teeth to that order. If that were to be activated, the sentence would almost be served. It is for that reason that I am going to impose a community order."
