A SHOCKED resident had his stolen car keys handed back to him in the early hours of the morning after police caught the suspected thief in a nearby garden.
Officers spotted the man hiding in Cheyne Avenue at around 5am last Tuesday (October 13) after reports of someone behaving suspiciously in the area.
They found a set of Mini Cooper keys on him and, after calling in a sniffer dog team, traced his scent back to another house in the street which had one of the cars parked in its driveway.
Officers found signs of a break in at the house and matched the keys to the car.
The man was arrested and charged with burglary, and the keys were handed back to their grateful owner.
The suspected thief appeared at Redbridge Magistrates Court the following day and was remanded in custody.
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