Watch police dog Vinnie and officer chase down and stop burglar caught in the act at Dobbies Garden Centre in Wyton

This is the moment Vinnie the police dog helps to catch a burglar who had broken into a Cambridgeshire garden centre.

Vinnie is seen with an officer pursuing and then confronting Ricky Homer, 36, at Dobbies Garden Centre in Wyton.

Security staff had alerted police after the break-in just after 10pm on October 23.

Homer, of no fixed address, was watched on CCTV cameras taking charity tins from the tills and filling trolleys with goods from the store.

Police dog Vinnie and his handler went to the store and, aided by CCTV operators, chased him through the store and into a soft play area where he was arrested.

The footage, captured on the officer’s body-worn camera, shows Vinnie barking loudly at Homer as the officer orders the burglar to stand still, then to get on the floor.

At Cambridge Crown Court last Friday (12 January), Homer was sentenced to a year in prison after previously pleading guilty to burglary and possession of a class B drug.

Det Con Neil Patrick, who investigated, said: “Homer is an opportunist burglar with a number of crimes under his belt. Thanks to the partnership working of the alarm company and CCTV operators, the officers at the scene and Police Dog Vinnie, Homer was swiftly arrested and is now behind bars for a year.”