A WIRRAL man admitted killing his dog by throwing it against a wall after it defecated on his bed.

Shaun David Skinner, of Virginia Road, New Brighton, pleaded guilty to causing the death of his six-month-old Staffordshire bull terrier Ty in October last year.

The 24-year-old appeared before Wirral magistrates last Thursday.

The court heard Skinner, who had owned the dog for three weeks, had called police after the incident and fully admitted his actions.

RSPCA inspector Anthony Joynes attended Skinner's previous address on Gamlin Street, Birkenhead, with police on October 28 and found several patches of blood on the floor and stairs before discovering Ty dead in the bath.

Chris Murphy, prosecuting on behalf of the RSPCA said Skinner had taken the dog for a walk in the park earlier that day.

After returning home, the brindle and white dog went to play upstairs while Skinner played on his Xbox.

It was during that time that Ty urinated and defecated in the bedroom.

On discovering what the dog had done, the court heard that Skinner grabbed it by the scruff of its neck and threw it at the wall, causing it to hit its head.

Mr Murphy said: “He thought the dog had just been knocked out but when he went over to the animal he realised things were more serious.

“He tried to revive him and gave him mouth to mouth and started some form of cardiac attempts.

“He thought the dog was coming back around and it started coughing and spluttering. He said blood was coming out of its mouth.”

Mr Murphy added: “He said he had not intended to hurt the dog in that way.

"He said he had never owned a dog previously, accepted he was guilty and was gutted by what he had done."

The court heard Skinner has no previous animal cruelty convictions but does suffer with anger management problems and had not been taking his tablets in the weeks before the incident.

Duty solicitor Phil Freckleton, representing Skinner, said he realised there was a risk of custody in this case and asked for pre-sentence reports to be produced.

Chair of the bench Christine MacKinnon described the case as “appalling” and “cruel”.

She agreed that “all option reports” should be produced and set a sentencing date of April 7 and released Skinner on unconditional bail.