A 37-YEAR-OLD man who kicked a police dog as he attempted to flee the scene of a road crash has been ordered to make a £300 donation to a local animal sanctuary.

Michael Kieran John Reilly, of Silverstream, Derrylin, pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to a dog and failing to provide a breath specimen on February 8 this year.

Fermanagh Magistrates Court heard that, at 3.14am, police observed a silver Toyota in a hedge at a junction. It had collided with a telephone pole.

Police commenced a search of the surrounding area, but were unable to locate the driver.

A police dog handler called for a male walking down the road to stop, but he continued on. A dog was released, and the man kicked it in the chest.

The dog subsequently bit the male. He was arrested and refused to provide his details, before being escorted to the South West Acute Hospital for treatment. While there, he was identified as the defendant.

At 7am, Reilly was asked to provide a sample of his breath, but he refused to do so. He was released from hospital and conveyed to Enniskillen police station, where he was interviewed.

Defending counsel, Steffan Rafferty, told the court that his client had a “genuine fear for his safety” when he had kicked out and had sustained a number of injuries that required hospital treatment.

The barrister added that the defendant had “no excuse” for not providing a breath specimen.

District judge, Nigel Broderick, observed that if any injuries had been sustained by the police dog the sentence would have been “much more severe”.

For kicking the dog, the defendant received a three-month jail term, suspended for two years, and was ordered to donate £300 to the Bright Eyes animal sanctuary.

Meanwhile, for not providing the sample, Reilly was fined £100, ordered to pay a £15 offender levy and disqualified from driving for a year.