An elderly woman has re-lived the moment she fought to save her beloved dog as it was savaged to death by a Staffordshire bull terrier.

Maureen Flint, 82, told a court she is haunted by the brutal attack on her miniature daschund Evie in Dartford’s Central Park.

She was on the ground with a cracked head after being pushed over by Bullseye’s drunken owner Kieran Humphreys, 25, when she spotted her dog’s head was in its mouth.

Mrs Flint jumped to her feet to try to save Evie, but she had already died from her injuries.

Jobless Humphreys, 25, was found guilty of having a dog that was dangerously out of control and common assault on Mrs Flint by Dartford magistrates on Wednesday.

He was given a six-month prison sentence – suspended for 18 months – and banned from owning dogs for five years after the attack on December 7, 2008.

In a statement read to the court, Mrs Flint said she was "haunted by the memory of the violent death of Evie. It makes me wretched and sad I was unable to save her life".

Humphreys, of Ambrook Road, Belvedere, said: "She pushed me and I fell over which provoked Bullseye. I would never touch an old lady or set a dog on another dog. I’m a dog lover."

The court ruled Bullseye be neutered instead of being destroyed and always muzzled on a lead when in public.

Magistrates also ordered he be supervised by probation officers for six months, pay Mrs Flint £500 compensation and £100 court costs.