An armed burglar who was the target in a botched shooting which left a girl paralysed from the waist down has been locked up again - thanks to a police dog.

Shaun Bryan, 23, and his accomplice 20-year-old Gino Sawyers were both sentenced at Croydon Crown Court yesterday after pleading guilty to aggravated burglary.

They subjected two women to a "ruthless attack" in their home in Northcote Road, Croydon, on December 17 last year, threatening them at knifepoint before stealing their mobile phones, a laptop and cash.

Officers used a mobile phone tracking app to trace them to London Road but lost the pair when they dropped the items they had stolen.

The Met’s dog unit was called in and a six-and-a-half-year-old German Shepherd called Jacob helped to hunt down 23-year-old Bryan and Sawyers.

Sawyers, of no fixed abode, and Bryan, from Stockwell, both pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary at the court on March 3.

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Shaun Bryan, 23, and his accomplice 20-year-old Gino Sawyers

Both were sentenced to six years and three months, with Bryan sent to prison and Sawyers sent to a young offender institution.

Investigating officer Detective Constable John Davis said: "This burglary was of a particularly violent nature, the males subjected the two females to a ruthless attack by threatening them with knives and violence in their own home.

"Thanks to the quick thinking of local officers and their teamwork with a dog support unit, these two very dangerous individuals were located and arrested soon after the offence.

"It is very satisfying that these criminals are off the streets and they will be serving lengthy custodial sentences for their actions."

Bryan, was sentenced to two years and four months in a young offender institution in March 2012 after pleading guilty to eight counts of supplying heroin and cocaine at the Inner London Crown Court.

Shaun Bryan locked up in 2012: Gang member who avoided Thusha bullet is jailed

Bryan, a member of the Stockwell based ABM gang (All ‘Bout Money) was chased by three men from the rival GAS gang (Guns and Shanks) in March 2011 as they fired shots into the Stockwell Food and Wine Shop.

All three bullets missed the young gang member, but one of them hit Thusha Kamaleswaran, who was five at the time, in the chest as she danced in the aisle of her uncle’s shop.