A LATCHFORD man has been jailed and banned from owning an animal again after biting his pet Staffordshire bull terrier more than 30 times and attempting to drown it.

Vets and RSPCA inspectors said the monstrous attack was the worst they had ever seen after Mark Helps, of Cross Lane, turned on the dog because his girlfriend would not go to bed with him.

The 31-year-old had been drinking heavily when he punched Vanessa Briggs, aged 20, so hard it knocked her out before biting her nose.

Helps’ cousin Julie Sutton arrived at the couple’s home in the early hours of March 4 this year to find dog excrement smeared across cupboards and walls and six-year-old dog Darcy covered in blood and shivering in the bath with the taps turned on.

Deborah Wright, prosecuting, said: “The defendant told Julie Sutton he had beaten the life out of both of them.

“He threw the dog into the bath again before Miss Sutton took Miss Briggs and the dog out of the house.

“The dog had bites to its bottom, sides and legs and had lost the tip of his right ear.”

Some of the bites were so deep they had gone through skin to the tissue.

Miriam Sutton, defending, said: “The defendant had consumed so much alcohol his recollection of the evening is very unclear but he has shown some remorse.”

Judge David Hale sentenced Helps to 20 months.

Darcy has since been rehomed with a new family in Liverpool after being cared for at the Warrington RSPCA centre, Slutchers Lane.

Anthony Joynes, RSPCA inspector, said: “I was horrified when I picked her up from the vets.

“Anytime I moved she was scared but staff at the centre have worked with her every day to bring her out of her shell. She’s a lovely dog.

“The judge summed it up by saying the maximum penalty was inadequate but I’m grateful he gave him that.”