A THUG who smashed a puppy's head with a wooden truncheon has been banned from owning animals for life.

Peter Scotter repeatedly battered the 14-week-old Staffordshire Bull terrier pup after it fouled the kitchen floor, Sunderland magistrates court heard today.

He later claimed he attacked the defenceless pup because it had earlier snapped at his three-year-old son - but admitted a charge of cruelly mistreating the dog.

Scotter is already serving a 21 month sentence after throwing bricks plastered with racist stickers through the window of a Sunderland house being used by asylum seekers.

At Durham Crown Court in July, the 40-year-old admitted the attack on the house in the Hendon area of the city.

Today's case included a statement from Scotter's girlfriend, Patricia Ancram, who owned the dog, Bessie, after paying £80 for it.

She described Scotter "frightening" the dog after it fouled the carpet but said he later calmed down.

However, when she returned from a driving lesson, Scotter emerged from the house and knocked on the car door triumphantly, saying: "I've killed your dog...unlucky."

She added: "I went in and saw her lying there in the dog basket. I tried to rouse her but she didn't move. I could tell she was dead."

In police interviews Scotter admitted killing the animal after repeatedly hitting it with a truncheon before punching and kicking it.

He told officers: "I killed it, that's good enough isn't it? I hit it because it was snapping at my son's face. I needed to teach it a lesson, but I went too far."

Scotter, of Smyrna Place, Hendon, Sunderland, but currently behind bars at HM Prison Durham, was disqualified from owning animals for life and given a four month jail term to run concurrently with the sentence he is currently serving. Gerry Armstrong, defending, said his client had no mitigating circumstances.

RSPCA Inspector Gaye Bayliss, speaking after the case, described it as 'horrifying'. She added: "The sentence shows it was a severe case of cruelty with intent on a 14-week-old puppy."