Image caption The accused had been fitted with an electronic ankle tag similar to this one

A burglary suspect has claimed that his pet dog chewed off the electronic tag he had been wearing as part of his bail conditions, a court has been told.

Jamie Toland told police he woke up to find the animal gnawing at the tag around his ankle at his home in Slemish Way, Lisburn, County Antrim.

But the High Court in Belfast was told there were "no signs" of teeth marks.

Bail was refused after the judge said the explanations tested "the court's ability to accept what he says".

Remanding the 23-year-old in custody, the judge said other outcome would "defy all the rules of logic and sense".

'Uphill struggle'

Mr Toland had been fitted with the electronic monitoring tag last month, after he was granted bail in connection to a burglary that took place in February.

He allegedly stole £1,550 in cash and a pellet gun during the break-in at a property in Lisburn.

The accused now faces a new charge of criminal damage for allegedly removing the monitoring device.

The tag is connected to a tamper alarm, and the security firm which manages the tagging system alerted police that the alarm had been trigged on 28 October.

Mr Toland was then arrested at his home.

A prosecution barrister to the High Court: "It subsequently became clear that the electronic tag had been removed from the applicant's ankle.

The court that heard Mr Toland told police his dog chewed at his ankle tag in an attempt to get the accused to go for a morning walk.

The prosecution barrister told the judge: "The tag was examined and there were no signs of any teeth marks around it."

He added that it would take up to 40 kilos in weight to break the device.

A box installed in Mr Toland's house as part of the monitoring system had been shifted, but the accused claimed it had been moved so he could do some cleaning.

A defence lawyer told the court he accepted he faced "an uphill struggle" to secure bail for his client again.

"His account of this is that he takes the dog for a walk every morning, but he slept in and the dog was gnawing at the thing on his leg," the lawyer added.

"He said when he got up he tried to get the dog off and the item fell off his leg."

The court heard Mr Toland has been battling alcohol addiction and had suffered two serious assaults earlier this year.

He sustained a fractured jaw and a brain injury in one incident. The second attack involved being hit on the skull with a bottle.

Remanding the accused into custody, the judge said: "This is an application where I would have to defy all the rules of logic and sense to do other than refuse him bail."