WATCH: Burglar gets spooked after coming face-to-face with pet cat

A video showing a burglar getting spooked after coming face to face with a pet cat before accidentally triggering the security alarm has gone viral on social media.

Mark Lawson, 42, crawled around the back garden of a house in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, on his hands and knees.

In a video just released by Nottinghamshire Police, the “feline” suspicious moggy can be seen eyeballing would be thief Mark Lawson, 42, as he crawls cat-like on all fours around the Priory Road house in West Bridgford.

After creeping around the rear of the property on his hands and knees, the burglar can be seen coming face-to-face with the family pet, who peered at him through a glass door.

Unbeknown to him, however, he was also being watched by the homeowner, who had already called the police after being alerted to the “purr-plexing” behaviour of the intruder by a mobile phone app. The incident happened just after 6.30 am on Mach 16 this year.

Lawson, who was wearing a woolly hat and a scarf over his face, fled the scene after the alarm sounded and was arrested nearby.

Appearing at Nottingham Crown Court last Tuesday (13 October), Lawson, of Eugene Gardens, The Meadows, was sentenced to 12 months in prison suspended for two years after previously admitting to a charge of attempted burglary.

He was also sentenced to a total of six months in prison, suspended for two years, for three counts of handling stolen goods.