Teenager, 19, battered dog with hammer 20 times and stabbed it through chest before leaving home to sign on at the JobCentre

Sean Deakin had only owned the dog for a few days

Staffordshire bull terrier Tyson took eight hours to die

Deakin offered the court no explanation for the abuse



Cruel: Sean Deakin, 19, battered his dog with a hammer before stabbing it in the chest and leaving it to die

A 19-year-old faces jail after he battered his new dog with a hammer, stabbed it in the chest and left it to die in agony.

Unemployed Sean Deakin left the male Staffordshire bull terrier dying on the kitchen floor of his flat while he went to the JobCentre to sign on.

The cruel youth returned to find the dog - which he had owned only a few days - lying immobile and vomiting.

In all, the dog - named Tyson - took eight agonising hours to die. A witness to the attack alerted RSPCA officers, who found Tyson's body in a wheelie bin outside Deakin's home four days later.

Deakin was arrested and charged with three counts of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.

He denied the offences but was found guilty at Manchester magistrates court and now faces up to six months behind bars.

The court heard Deakin and his girlfriend Sarah Tame, 19, had taken ownership of Tyson just days before the attack after answering an advert on classifieds website Gumtree in May last year.

At around 3am, he struck the dog around 20 times on the head with a hammer. No explanation was given in court. Three hours later, Deakin woke and noticed the dog had urinated on his bed.

He chased it around the kitchen, trapped it between his legs and stabbed in it the chest with a six-inch knife he had grabbed from a drawer.

Deakin then went to sign on, returning shortly before Tyson died at 2pm. Inspector Danielle Jennings, of the RSPCA, said the attack was the worst case she had ever encountered.

'This was an absolutely heinous crime against an innocent animal who had done nothing wrong other than suffer the misfortune of being taken into that flat,' she said.

'In four years as an inspector this is without a doubt the worst attack on an animal I have encountered.

'Almost as soon as Tyson arrived in the flat a pattern of abuse which amounted to torture began.

'It is a concern that animals are being so easily given away online, seemingly without any checks.'

Manchester City Magistrates Court: Chairman of the Bench Hugh Keachie said he was 'appalled' by the crimes and told Deakin he faces jail

Chairman of the Bench Hugh Keachie told Deakin the starting point for such crimes was a custodial sentence.

He said: 'As a bench this offence absolutely appalled us and we need to make sure you understand how serious this is.'

Tame pleaded guilty to one count of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal at an earlier hearing for not seeking veterinary attention for Tyson.