An Amazon delivery driver stole a customer’s miniature schnauzer puppy while dropping off a parcel of dog food.

Levi Pislea, 22, took 11-month-old Wilma from the garden of her home during his delivery round.

Owner Richard Guttfield was left frantically searching for the dog, who was found four days later at Pislea’s home.

The driver, who worked for an independent delivery agency dropping off Amazon parcels, claimed he had found Wilma wandering in the street and decided to take her in.

Pislea also denied going anywhere near Mr Guttfield’s garden, but an app used to monitor his steps at work proved that was a lie.

At High Wycombe magistrates court yesterday Pislea was sentenced to a 12 month community order, 150 hours of community service, and ordered to pay £705 in court costs.

CPS prosecutor Andrew Morgan said afterwards: “Pislea lied when he said he hadn’t been near the garden where the dog was - a lie that was proven by the tracker data of his steps. And it is clear that the garden was secure, meaning the dog could not have got out on its own.

“Added to that, he denied any knowledge of the dog when he was directly asked about it, and made no effort to reunite it with its owner over the four days that it was in his possession; all of which indicated his intention to keep it.”

The court heard Mr Guttfield was out playing snooker on April 27 last year when Pislea dropped off a parcel of dog food that had been ordered online.

The driver walked around the house and into the garden where he found Wilma, the GPS tracking app showed. In a public appeal after the dog-napping, Mr Guttfield said he contacted Amazon to see if the driver had seen Wilma running away. Eventually his family emailed founder Jeff Bezos to ask the firm to help.

An Amazon staff member then checked the GPS tracking log and went to Pislea’s home where he recovered the dog.

“I just want people to know this can happen”, said Mr Guttfield.

“Our homes are all exposed to these drivers and the vast majority of them are great. But some will take advantage. It’s just a miracle I got Wilma back.”

“He had her for four days. She was distraught when she was returned and was in quite a bad way. But she soon got back to normal within a week. She’s doing fine now. She’s lovely.”

Pislea, of no fixed address, denied the theft charge but was convicted at trial.