A thug who sunk his teeth into the ear of a police dog has admitted breaking its jaw with a metal pole.
Jamie O’Neill had already assaulted his former partner at an address in Kilwinning on March 26.
After assaulting his partner, the violent thug then threw a brick through the window of a neighbours property, without giving any consideration to who might be inside the property at the time.
The flying glass landed next to a 60-year-old bedridden dementia patient who was luckily not hurt during the incident.
The 33-year-old vandal fled the scene but was tracked to the Nethermains Industrial Estate at around 15:30 hours.
Dog handler PC Paul O’Donnell attended the scene to search for the suspect.
After a short while, O’Neill was found by PD ‘Remo’ who challenged the suspect.
But O’Neill had found a metal pole and proceeded to hit PD Remo around the head.
As PD Remo continued to bite the calf on his right leg, ‘O’Neill sunk his teeth into ‘Remo’s ear – causing a hole to pierce through the lobe.
‘O’Neill then hit PC ‘O’Donnell in the face with the same metal pole before he was eventually subdued.
Owing to the bite on his leg, O’Neill was taken to a nearby hospital where he became verbally abusive to hospital staff and spat in the face of one of the nurses.
Procurator fiscal depute Ruaraidh Ferguson told Kilmarnock Sheriff Court:
“The constable suffered a cut to the left ear and also to the right cheek.
“The dog was seriously injured and required stitches to close the injury in the ear, which was caused by the accused biting it.
“Also, as a result of being struck by the pole, the dog lost one of its full canine teeth and suffered a fractured jaw.”
‘O’Neill, a prisoner at HMP Kilmarnock, pled guilty to nine charges including two police assaults, causing unnecessary suffering to the dog and culpable and reckless conduct on Monday.
PD Remo suffered a broken tooth and underwent root canal surgery before a titanium crown was fitted.
He has since returned to active duty.
PC O’Donnell told Emergency Services News
“PD Remos recovered well after over £4,000 worth of surgery and he is looking forward to testing his teeth out”.
