A dognapper who stole a five-year-old's beloved puppy was previously jailed for trying to set fire to a pub and causing a flood of beer, The ECHO can reveal.
Johnathan Waters this week walked free from court after burgling a family home and stealing an autistic child's 12-week-old French bulldog. But this is not the first time the 31-year-old has been in trouble over the law for breaking into private property.
He has three previous convictions for burglary in 2008, 2013 and 2015 as well as two for theft in 2020 and 2021. The most recent burglary saw Waters drunkenly target the Hermitage Tavern in Walton.
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Then aged 24, Waters gained entry to the now-demolished Lilly Grove establishment by smashing a downstairs window with a hammer on March 28 2014. Inside, he stole cash from the tills, fruit machines and a charity box.
The burglar then caused a flood by vandalising beer pumps and set the curtains alight. Waters, of Grasmere Street in Anfield, also stole between £300 and £400 of alcohol - including bottles of champagne.
Around £8,000 of flood and smoke damage was caused by the incident. He was jailed for 27 months after admitting burglary.
Waters lived opposite the pub at the time of the break-in, and his latest conviction also saw him target his near neighbours. Victim Karen Higgins had been home at the address on Wilburn Street in Walton shortly before 10pm on May 19 this year when she heard one of her two dogs barking furiously.
She looked out of the window to see the rear gate "wide open", then went downstairs and discovered the back door ajar and puppy Stitch missing. It is believed the burglar had climbed through the kitchen window in order to gain entry before stealing the pet.
A witness then saw Waters, who has no recollection of the incident due to being "heavily intoxicated", at the end of the road carrying a dog. He claimed that this was his friend's dog, and that his name was Rocco.
Stitch was thankfully recovered safely and reunited with his rightful owners the following day. Joe Ely, defending, told Liverpool Magistrates' Court his client had turned to "alcohol misuse" after the "traumatic loss of his brother" three years ago.
Waters again pleaded guilty to burglary, but was this time handed a 12-month imprisonment suspended for a year. Ms Higgins previously described how Stitch had been "stuck to her son Tyler like glue" since coming into their lives.
She added: "I was screaming 'somebody is in my house', but nobody was listening. In the end, somebody came over and went into the kitchen for me and said my dog was gone and the window was forced open."
Ms Higgins said that Waters then came out into street and said "that's heavy that" after she told him what had happened. He had seen Stitch for the first time the morning previous.
The mum said: "Stitch was just playing in the street and he came over and said 'oh he's boss isn't he' and was asking questions about him. I couldn't believe it.
"Since he came into the house he's made a bond with this boy. They're inseparable.
"I can't even describe this bond. He was staying at his dad's, and every time I FaceTime him he says 'where's the baby?'."
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