A DRUNKEN thug who repeatedly punched his dog and chucked it around by its back legs has dodged jail.

Peter Brady, 35, subjected his terrified boxer/pitbull cross to a sustained and brutal beating near his home in Bucksburn, Aberdeen.

1 Peter Brady has avoided jail after attacking his dog Credit: Cascade News

The city's sheriff court heard he was heavily under the influence of alcohol when he launched the frenzied attack.

Fiscal Depute Calum Thompson said the attack, which took place in Beech Manor, had been prolonged.

He told the court: “The dog was thrown against the ground at least eight times and it was punched at least six times."

Brady admitted seizing his dog by the legs, repeatedly throwing it to the ground and repeatedly punching it on the body.

His solicitor Ian Woodward-Nutt said his client - a full-time driver - was “utterly horrified” by his behaviour.

He said: “Mr Brady struggles with his mental health and with substance abuse, which led to this.

“He has grown up with dogs and is utterly horrified he should ever behave this way toward an animal.”

Mr Woodward-Nutt added that his client was “very upset and contrite” about the entire incident and had taken action to rectify his behaviour.

He said: “In what is perhaps a measure of his feelings, he re-homed the dog through a local animal charity immediately after the incident.

“It was entirely out of character. He has loved and cared for animals all his life.”

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Mr Woodward-Nutt added that his client had “no recollection of what happened” and said there had been “no significant injury to the animal”.

Sheriff Peter Grant-Hutchison spared Brady jail and instead imposed a community sentence.

But he said: “I get the impression this was a rather frenzied attack and I will impose supervision as an extra safeguard. This is an alternative to custody.

“This is a chance for your mental health to stabilise and hopefully improve your situation.”

Brady was banned from owning an animal for two years, placed under social work supervision for a year and ordered to carry out 60 hours of unpaid work.

A dog whose owner was killed in a car crash has remained at the scene for over a year

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