A man who was responsible for a “brutal attack” on a family pet which later had to be put down has been jailed for 23 weeks and banned from keeping animals for life.

The seven-year-old Staffordshire bull terrier, named Molly, suffered a fractured leg, bruising, bleeding muscles and a number of haemorrhages after the attack on November 23 last year.

Walsall Magistrates Court heard the dog was discovered by its owner close to death and lying in a “pool of blood”.

It was estimated she had been beaten for an hour, RSPCA prosecutor Mr Nick Sutton said.

It happened when 21-year-old Christopher Wilson was left alone with the dog at his previous address in Circuit Close, Willenhall.

He had moved in the day before with his then girlfriend Shona Weston and the animal belonged to her mother Moira Harris.

Mr Sutton said the grandmother-of-two had been told by her daughter that Wilson claimed the dog was “unwell” so they met up.

Ms Harris said she discovered her pet with a swollen head, “fixated” eyes, a “floppy and loose” back leg and blood under the surface of her skin.

She took Molly to the vets and she was put down.

Experts said the “blunt trauma injuries” would have been caused by the dog being struck or run over.

Mr Sutton said: “It was a sustained and brutal attack on a defenceless and placid animal which resulted in its death. It really does not become much more serious than this.”

The court heard yesterday  that Wilson initially denied hurting the animal, saying a shelf had fallen onto her, and had hit her head on a toilet.

Wilson, of Shugborough Close, Bloxwich, later admitted two counts of causing unnecessary suffering to the animal and two of failing to ensure her welfare.

Mr John Walker, mitigating, said Wilson was of “limited abilities” and regretted his actions.

After the case, Ms Harris, of Willenhall, said the sentence was not long enough.

“Molly was brilliant. She used to wash the guinea pig and hamster,” she said.