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A dog owner who set his pit bull named Rizla on a man over a £7 debt will keep his freedom - and his pet.

Michael Arundel, 34, was also rugby-tackled by a brave householder in a burglary which left a mum-of-three unable to sleep.

With 125 previous offences to his name, he appeared at Teesside Crown Court to be sentenced for the burglary and the dog attack today.

His dog Rizla bit the left leg of Kenneth Bishop in a street row over a £7 debt, the court heard.

A jury saw photos of pools of blood at the scene on Woodville Avenue, Grove Hill, Middlesbrough from the night of December 19, 2013.

Arundel, of Thorndyke Avenue, Beechwood, Middlesbrough, denied setting the dog on Mr Bishop and said he since apologised to him.

He denied wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

He was cleared of this charge but convicted on the lesser charge of unlawful wounding after the trial last September.

The judge, Recorder Jamie Hill QC, told Arundel today: “In the heated argument, momentarily at least, you called your dog in to bite him.

“I accept, as the jury must have accepted, that you clearly changed your mind about that very quickly and you were trying to pull Rizla away.”

Arundel admitted being the owner of a dog which caused injury while dangerously out of control in a public place.

He also admitted burgling a shed on Bamburgh Court, Middlesbrough while a mum and her three children slept on January 6 last year.

Prosecutor Conor Quinn told how Arundel and an associate took off the shed door with a screwdriver and stole belongings including two bikes.

The mum’s partner came out for a cigarette as Arundel was about to make his escape at about 2am.

He saw masked Arundel, tried to grab him, chased him and rugby-tackled him to the ground.

They exchanged punches in a tussle and Arundel slipped free as his balaclava was pulled off.

The scuffle woke the mum and the children. She since said she had trouble sleeping and felt vulnerable in her home.

Since the offences, he served an eight-month prison sentence for a separate affray, completed a suspended jail term and had been on a tag.

Rod Hunt, defending, said: “I would argue that because of the time he’s spent in custody, the effect of incarceration has now been felt.”

Passing sentence, Recorder Hill told Arundel: “You’ve got to stop getting into trouble.

“You’ve been back inside for the first time in a few years.”

In light of events since the crimes and a positive pre-sentence report, he said he could “take an exceptional course”.

He gave Arundel a 21-month prison sentence suspended for two years with supervision, adding: “Some people may regard you as being very lucky today.”

Regarding Rizla, a dog expert police officer had told the court the pit bull was well behaved in custody and was not regarded as dangerous.

The judge made a “contingent destruction order”, meaning Rizla will not be destroyed and will be returned to Arundel if the dog is neutered in the next three months and is muzzled and kept on a lead.