A puppy has been returned to its owner four months after being dog-napped by a brazen student who scaled her neighbour's fence to steal her.

Penny, the seven-month-old cocker spaniel, disappeared from Daniel James' back garden in Bradford, East Manchester, in September.

Her whereabouts remained a mystery until Mr James examined CCTV and identified his neighbours' teenage daughter scaling his garden fence and stealing the pup.

Taxi driver James Daniel is all smiles as he poses with Penny, his cocker spaniel puppy who was stolen by his neighbour Shannagh Cookson in September

Mr Daniel's next door neighbour Ms Cookson was filmed on CCTV scaling his five foot high back garden fence and picking up a portable container holding Penny

Cookson (above) appeared at Manchester Magistrates' Court last year. She admitted taking the dog - but said the puppy was being ill-treated refused to say where she was being held

Shannagh Cookson, 19, admitted taking Penny - but refused to tell police where she was hiding her because she claimed the dog was being 'ill treated'.

Mr James, a taxi driver, who bought Penny as a present for his daughter, eight, was in the dark about her whereabouts until police phoned last week to say she'd been found.

Speaking to MailOnline, Mr James, 49, said: 'We are just so happy Penny has been returned to us after all this time.

'I feared we would never see her again after what that girl did. 'My daughter is just beyond happy. She has been hugging Penny and is so overjoyed.

'You wouldn't believe how happy my daughter is – I am as well.

'We were so heartbroken she was taken but now so she has come home.'

In the extraordinary row between the neighbours, Cookson was filmed climbing over Mr James' five-foot high fence and jumping into his back garden.

Mr Daniel said Penny's return was a 'happy ending' for the family and said his eight-year-old daughter is over the moon to have her beloved cocker spaniel home again

Mr Daniel had no idea what his neighbour had done with Penny (pictured) for four months until last week when police phoned him to say that she had been found in the south of Manchester

She then grabbed the portable kennel Penny was kept in and jumped back into her parents' garden.

Another cocker spaniel he owns called Molly watched the theft but was not targeted and was found running around the garden.

Mr Daniel discovered the theft when he arrived home from a trip to the supermarket.

Despite being caught red-handed, the teenager refused to tell police where the elusive cocker spaniel was being held.

She ignored desperate appeals to return the dog from Mr James, leaving his daughter 'extremely upset'.

The college student was quizzed by police and said she had given Penny away to a friend as she believed the dog wasn't being looked after properly.

Cookson admitted theft before magistrates and was ordered to pay £600 compensation after refusing to disclose Penny's whereabouts.

She was also ordered to complete a 12 month community order and 150 hours unpaid work and was told to pay costs of £85.

The dog-napping led to a bitter fall out between father-of-two Mr Daniel and teenager Cookson as she ignored his pleas to hand back the dog, leaving his daughter incredibly upset, he says

Cookson, 19, was fined £600 at Manchester Magistrates' Court in November for taking Penny. The court was shown footage of her scaling Mr Daniel's fence and stealing the beloved puppy

Penny had initially not been found despite Mr Daniel making repeated appeals to Cookson's mother and father who live next door to him.

Defending Stephen Connor told the court: 'In interview she accepted she had taken this dog and indeed she attended the interview on a voluntary basis.

'Throughout the course of her interview she raised real concerns about the health of the dog that she took and the health of other puppies that she says were in the back garden.

'She has been open with me because she was that alarmed about the health of those dogs - the CCTV actually shows her on her phone trying to get through to the RSPCA but was being kept waiting.

'In hindsight she accepts she took a foolish decision and she regrets that.

'The dog was given to a friend the defendant is adamant that she hasn't received any financial gain - you are dealing with a 19-year-old lady who had never even troubled the courts.'

Her mother Elaine told Mailonline after her conviction: 'She's sorry for what happened – she made a mistake. She told me she's given the dog to someone else to look after.'

The family's other cocker spaniel Molly (pictured) was left behind by Cookson despite being in the garden with Penny at the time she was spirited away

Mr Daniel said his ordeal came to a 'happy ending' on Friday with a call from police to say the missing dog had been located.

'We don't really know the circumstances of how she was found,' he said.

'The police just rang up and said she's been found in south Manchester. They found us through her microchip. It was a complete surprise but a lovely one.

'I told my daughter that one day we would see Penny again and that has come to pass. We are blessed.

He added: 'It's outrageous what happened. 'This has caused us so much heartache – we were devastated and my daughter was left distraught. But now we have a happy ending.'