A Derry man who beat a Jack Russell terrier so severely it had to be put down, after the dog had bitten his young daughter, was yesterday ordered to do 240 hours of community service.
The Magistrate’s Court in Derry was told the dog, known as Biggie Smalls, was so badly beaten with a 1.5m baton while chained up that it had to be humanely destroyed.
William John Ireland (33), from Ferguson Street in Derry, admitted a charge of causing unnecessary suffering to the dog at Cornshell Fields on September 1st, 2011.
Deputy District Judge Peter King said but for the fact that Ireland, who had 23 previous convictions, some for violent offences, had shown full remorse for his actions, he would have jailed him.
