A man has been banned from keeping animals after causing unnecessary suffering to two hunting dogs.

Benny Joe Eastwood, of Ropers Green Lane, High Halstow, in Rochester, was sentenced to a lifetime ban, along with a community order, suspended sentence and fine after pleading guilty to three offences under the Animal Welfare Act relating to two dogs - a bull lurcher called Max and a terrier called Skip.

The 19-year-old was handed the punishment when he appeared at Medway Magistrates’ Court.

RSPCA officers from the Special Operations Unit (SOU) joined Kent Police who executed a warrant under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 at an address in High Halstow on April 14 this year, after receiving information from social media which suggested dogs were being used in wildlife crimes.

SOU spokesman Will Mitchell said: “Our officers found two dogs who were assessed as suffering and displayed injuries that were consistent with encounters with a fox or badger. They were removed from the address.”

Two dogs were found living in a wooden kennel block - a black and white lurcher who was curled up in a corner, and a black and tan terrier with “severe facial injuries”.

Officers found lurcher Max to have “obvious facial scarring” while a large part of terrier Skip’s top lip was missing. Eastwood admitted that both dogs belonged to him.

He told investigators that the terrier had had a fight with another dog but inquiries disproved this account.

An independent vet who assessed both dogs and assisted with the investigation - named Operation Tiara - said in his witness statement: “The (lurcher) was in poor bodily condition with a body condition score of 1/9 and weighed 25kgs. The ribs, spine and bones of the pelvis were easily visible.

"There were multiple scars on (the) muzzle, head and ears… The scars on the head were at different stages of healing and it appeared that the injuries that had produced these scars had occurred at different times and were not the result of a single incident.

“Skip had multiple scars on the muzzle and head and the scars were at different stages of development with some being quite old and well healed whereas others were much more recent. The ears were completely devoid of hair, with a leather-like appearance, and had multiple lacerations.

"There was a large tissue deficit on the left (upper jaw area), this injury appeared to be relatively recent and I estimated to have occurred 14 days prior to my examination. I could not see that any attempt had been made to treat this substantial injury. On the (front of the jaw) there were two puncture wounds which were more recent and I estimated these injuries to have occurred 2-3 days previously.”

The vet concluded that both dogs had suffered unnecessarily for an estimated period of approximately two weeks.

In mitigation, the court heard that Eastwood was young and vulnerable, but accepted wrongdoing and was remorseful. The court also heard that he’d experienced trauma when he was a young child and had never had help until now.

Eastwood was sentenced to 12 weeks custody, suspended for two years, and a community order with 200 hours of unpaid work and a requirement to complete 10 RAR (rehabilitation activity requirement) days. He was also disqualified from keeping all animals for life and ordered to pay £400 in costs and an £85 victim surcharge.

The sentencing hearing was on December 8, with details released today.

Sergeant Darren Walshaw, of Kent Police’s Rural Task Force, said: “We work closely with the RSPCA on a range of animal welfare issues, providing support and evidence capture in order to assist them in securing convictions.

“In this instance we carried out a warrant on behalf of the charity to allow them to gather evidence which led to a successful conviction for offences under the Animal Welfare Act. The offender’s actions were not only criminal but barbaric and cruel.

“We are committed to working with the RSPCA to send a message to those intent on causing suffering to animals that their actions will not be tolerated.”