Man violently attacked his dogs in M&S car park

A man has been given a suspended prison sentence after he admitted attacking his two pet dogs, including stamping on one of their heads 17 times, in a Marks & Spencer car park.

Plymouth Crown Court heard Lewis Simmons, 31, also whipped his other dog with a metal lead and stabbed it four times with a golf umbrella in a 30-minute attack.

Simmons' attack on his two dogs had been caught on CCTV in the car park in Plymouth city centre in October 2023.

The dogs were subsequently rehomed, the court heard.

Simmons pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering and was jailed for six months, suspended for 18 months with supervision requirements, and banned indefinitely from having dogs, with a minimum five-year disqualification.

Simmons, who had been homeless at the time of the attack but now lives in Bath, has previous convictions for violence that did not involve animals.

The court heard one of the dogs passed out after he whipped it several times with a metal lead, and that he whipped and stabbed the other one as it was tied to railings, before he then tipped the contents of a dog bowl over its head.

Simmons stamped forcefully on one of the dog's heads 17 times, the court heard.

The attack stopped when two people heard thuds and squealing and confronted Simmons who had strangled one of the dogs by her collar.

Judge Matthew Turner said it had been a "prolonged but isolated incident" involving "significant force" but said Simmons' life was very different now to how it had been in late 2023.

Follow BBC Devon on X, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].