A DRUNKEN man punched his pet whippet and then throttled it in front of people enjoying a night out in a Clitheroe town centre pub, a court heard.

John Mark Burnside then approached a group of males in the Rose and Crown and swung a stool at them before punching one and grabbing another by the throat, Blackburn magistrates were told.

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The court was told that all the time Burnside was “muttering” to himself and ignored efforts to calm him down.

Burnside, 22, of St Pauls Street, Clitheroe, pleaded guilty to being drunk and disorderly in the Rose and Crown, using threatening behaviour and causing unnecessary suffering to a dog. He also pleaded guilty to being drunk and disorderly in Station Road, Clitheroe on a separate occasion. Sentencing was adjourned for administrative reasons.

Catherine Allan, prosecuting, said Burnside walked into the Rose and Crown at 10.15pm and the barman described him as looking “drunk and angry”.

“He sat at the bar, picked up the dog, lifted it to head height and then, without warning, threw it down onto the floor,” said Miss Allan.

“He walked across the pub and with both hands began to squeeze the dogs neck before hitting it three or four times. The dog didn’t cry out but witnesses said it looked really scared.” Miss Allan applied for an order disqualifying Burnside from keeping any animal and an exclusion order from public houses in the Clitheroe area.

She said the second drunk and disorderly, in Station Road, put Burnside in breach of a suspended prison sentence imposed for assaults on two people in a Clitheroe social club.

Geoffrey Ireland, defending, said he couldn’t say too much about the offences because his client had no recollection due the amount he had to drink combined with medication he took for mental health issues.

“He accepts he behaved very badly towards the dog which his parents have since given to someone else,” said Mr Ireland.