A FATHER-OF-TWO has been jailed for 18 weeks after he admitted binding a stray dog’s muzzle shut and beating it to death.

Police and RSPCA officers described Paul Hinton’s actions as one of the worst cases of animal cruelty they had ever come across.

The 35-year-old, from Darlington, appeared before magistrates yesterday to admit five charges of neglect and cruelty.

Kevin Campbell, prosecuting, said Hinton’s former landlord found the dog in Hargreave Terrace, in the town, on April 1, a month after it died.

Mr Campbell said Hinton, a 35-year-old unemployed joiner, tied the brown cross-breed dog’s muzzle shut, leaving it unable to regulate its body temperature by panting.

The dog died of impaired breathing and a heart attack as a result of a traumatic injury.

It was either kicked or beaten in the head, spine, tail, left hind leg and abdomen.

Hinton admitted failing to meet the needs of the dog, causing unnecessary suffering by tying its muzzle, hitting it and cruelly ill-treating it.

Chris Bunting, in mitigation, told magistrates Hinton took the dog in because it appeared malnourished and was scavenging in bins.

However, when it twice bit one of his sons, Hinton, who has since moved to Pensbury Street, Darlington, tied the animal up to protect his family.

Mr Bunting said: “Mr Hinton took the dog under his wing with distorted, but wellmeaning intentions, and things went wrong very quickly.”

Hinton was banned from keeping animals for life.

An application for bail pending an appeal against the sentence was denied.

Speaking after the case, RSPCA inspector Garry Palmer said: “What this dog went through is the stuff of nightmares. Thinking about that has caused many a sleepless night for me.

“The premeditated nature of what happened here makes it one of the most shocking cases I have ever dealt with. It was horrific.”