A BULLDOG named "Baby" was headbutted, stamped on and picked up and thrown down the stairs repeatedly, while her laughing attackers filmed her ordeal on a mobile phone.

Andrew Frankish, of Redcar, is shown on the harrowing video holding the defenceless dog high over his head, heard saying "Should I?" and hurling her down the stairs several times.

In another clip from the video - which RSPCA inspectors said is the worst they have seen - the dog can be heard crying as Frankish puts his full weight on her chest, then jumps up and down on her, while his accomplice says: "See if we can make it scream any more.

"We should throw it down the stairs by its ears."

Frankish, 22, and another 18-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted charges of animal cruelty at Hartlepool Magistrates' Court last week.

The pair were only found out when a member of the public found an SD memory card on the floor of a supermarket and, recognising the people on it, handed it to police.

The men were arrested later that day and interviewed by the RSPCA.

Baby, a family pet, was put to sleep about three months later after losing the use of her back legs.

RSPCA inspector Gemma Lynch said: “She is totally submissive throughout, not even making a noise when she lands on the stairs, bouncing to the foot of them where there is a baby gate which she crashes into before hitting the ground.

“Andrew is saying things like “One, two, three” before hurling her down them. He is clearly enjoying himself - he’s laughing and smiling. The whole horrible ordeal seems to be for his and the younger man’s entertainment, for fun.

“Another clip shows him stamping on her neck repeatedly at the bottom of the stairs, then picking her up and throwing her to the ground with force over and over again. He’s laughing hysterically.

“Everyone who has seen the video says it’s the most distressing thing they’ve ever seen. These are people who have seen a lot of horrible things.”

The men pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to the dog by subjecting her to physical violence and received a suspended 21-week prison sentence, a six-month tagged curfew between 8pm and 6am, and ordered to pay £300 costs. They were banned from keeping animals for life, with no appeal for 20 years.