A PLANT machinery driver kicked his girlfriend’s pedigree spaniel to death because it bit his hand after he stood on one of its paws, a court heard.

Owner Helen Woodland left the court in tears after former boyfriend Vincent Grant was given a one-year community order after admitting causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.

The 42-year-old had been warned that he could have been jailed for up to 26 weeks.

Tilly, a Cavalier King Charles spaniel, suffered five broken ribs and a punctured lung, which left her unable to breathe.

Speaking after the case, Miss Woodland said: “I am disgusted.

I cannot say whether he should have been jailed, but I do not feel that justice has been done.”

Clare Irving, prosecuting, told the court Miss Woodland left Tilly at Grant’s home while she gave a lift to a friend before she returned.

“She heard the door slamming and heard Tilly yelping. She could tell she was in pain and distress.

She appeared lifeless but was still alive.”

Tilly, who was a five-year-old tan and white bitch, was taken to a vet, who pronounced her dead and concluded she had suffered multiple, blunt-force blows.

Grant, of Frank Street, Durham, later admitted kicking Tilly three times on February 20, while wearing heavy boots.

He said that the spaniel bit his hand after he accidentally trod on her paw.

Tony Jackson, mitigating, said: “It was a reaction because it hurt.

“He is distraught at what has happened.”

The court heard both Grant and Miss Woodland have sought treatment for depression since the incident.

In her victim impact statement, Miss Woodland, 35, said: “Tilly and me were inseparable. I loved her as if she were my child.

“The thought of her never coming and pressing her wet nose against me is gutting.”

Grant was given a one-year community order, which includes supervision and 200 hours of unpaid work, and was ordered to pay nearly £1,500 in compensation to his former partner, as well as £85 in court costs.

Miss Woodland, from Cassop, County Durham, who works with homeless people, told The Northern Echo: “I will have to live with what he has done for the rest of my life.

“No punishment will ever bring Tilly back.”