A dog owner whose animal bit a pensioner’s finger off has lost an appeal and will have to pay to have his own pet destroyed.

Scott Mills-Jones, 25, must pay £100 to have his Staffordshire bull-terrier, Shadow, destroyed after losing his appeal at Kingston Crown Court last Thursday, October 18.

The court heard how Mills-Jones’s neighbour Jenny Wackett was returning from a walk with her dog when his pet ran out of the garage in Chlesea Close, Hampton Hill,  and began fighting with the other animal.

The court heard how Shadow bit Kruger on his neck and ears and Mrs Wackett was bitten trying to stop them shortly before a neighbour came out and threw a bucket of water on the dogs.

Prosecuting, Dominic Benthall, said: “She was bleeding heavily from the tip of her middle finger. It was completely severed and hanging on by a small piece of skin.”

The tip of her finger was sewn back on but the court heard how she had lost some sensitivity in it.

Mills-Jones was originally ordered to pay £1,000 compensation to Mrs Wackett, £100 toward the destruction of his dog, carry out 100 hours of unpaid work and was banned from owning a dog for five years at the sentencing on June 29.

He hoped that the decision to destroy his two-year-old dog, which had been in a police kennel since February 3, would be overturned.

Defending, Karen Dempsey suggested the court allow Mills-Jones to keep his pet if he stuck to a set of conditions, including keeping it on a lead, making it wear a muzzle and neutering it so it would no longer pose a risk to the public.

Recorder Blair-Gould said: “We accept this was not a deliberate crime. But we consider there is a high degree of culpability – you were in charge of the dog.

“We take into account the fact that you did nothing to run out and try and stop it, which would appear to be the natural reaction of most people. We regret to say we do not consider that you could be trusted to comply with any conditions relating to this dog.”

At the hearing on June 29, Mills-Jones was also sentenced to four months’ imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, but Recorder Blair-Gould abolished that during the appeal, because he did not feel it necessary.

Speaking outside the court, Mills-Jones said he was “very upset” and believed the two dogs were fighting, rather than his dog attacking his neighbours.

He said: “I don’t know how they test that it was my dog that done it. They (the court) don’t have any consideration about animals.”