A DOG owner who threw his pet into a street litter bin has been banned from keeping any animal for five years.

Andrew John Waterson, 37, hit the Staffordshire terrier on the head and banged it against a wall when he erupted in a rage in Holgate Road, Acomb, prosecutor Emma Pearce told York magistrates. Moments beforehand, he had grabbed the arm of Julie Boyne, his girlfriend, and bruised her when she refused to speak to him. Waterson, of Martins Court, off Leeman Road, pleaded guilty to a public order offence, assault and animal cruelty.

As well as the five-year ban on keeping animals, magistrates gave him a 12-month community order with supervision, and ordered him to pay £50 compensation to Ms Boyne and £75 prosecution costs.

Miss Pearce said the relationship between Ms Boyne and Waterson had broken down. On June 27, police got involved after he swore at her.

On July 16, as she was walking home along Holgate Road, she met Waterson, who had his dog with him.

He wanted to speak to her, but she refused and he grabbed her by the arm. She pushed him away and left him.

Waterson then threatened the dog, grabbed it by the scruff of the neck and carried it across the road by its collar. He hit it against a wall and a step in the road. The dog was yelping and Ms Boyne cried at him to stop, but Waterson threw the dog into a street bin and hit it on the head a number of times.

The dog suffered a cut near its left eye. Ms Boyne was left with a bruised arm.

For Waterson, Victoria Latham said he had a paralysed arm and had difficulty controlling the dog.

The dog had been running away from him.

He tried to pick it up with his good arm, but it fell out of his grip and he put the dog in the bin to keep the animal contained. When the dog tried to jump out, he slapped it and caused the injury.

The couple's relationship was a volatile one, though Waterson accepted he could not control his temper properly.

He had wanted to talk through their problems.