A furious mum who threw her ex-lover's dog out of a window has avoided going to prison.

Kayleigh Smee hurled the eight-year-old pet Chihuahua, called Prince, to his death from a second-storey flat during a "terrible" row with her boyfriend on December 10, 2021. The dog later had to be put down.

The 33-year-old cleaner is believed to be the first person in the UK sentenced under new guidelines which has raised the maximum sentence from six months to five years for causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.

Judge Philip Statman told her: "Prince, this much loved little Chihuahua, died the most awful death...which was wholly avoidable.

"This was an ugly incident which happened spontaneously but was not done out of revenge."

He said some people say the way animals are treated is the hallmark of a civilised society.

Maidstone Crown Court heard that the animal was seen by neighbours - including a young child - being hurled out of the window and heard yelping in pain.

Prince was then taken for treatment by a vet after suffering bleeding and severe spasms but 12 hours later he was put down despite emergency treatment.

Now Smee, whose address remains a secret, has admitted causing the dog unnecessary pain and escaped with a 12 month jail sentence suspended for two years.

She was ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and attended 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days. The cost of the prosecution, £17,122 will be paid out of public funds.

But Smee, who was dressed in striped trousers, is banned from owning or keeping a dog for 10 years.

Jeremy Cave, prosecuting on behalf of the RSPCA, told how Smee and boyfriend Ryan Doe had been out drinking and returned to her flat in Rochester.

A row broke out and Smee claimed her lover was violent and had damaged the door of the flat after she threw him out.

As he stood below her window, Smee began throwing out crockery before throwing out Prince, alleging her lover had often beaten the animal.

‘This was an ugly incident which happened spontaneously but was not done out of revenge...’

Smee initially claimed not to have tossed the canine out of the window, then claimed it may have been thrown out with clothes.

But Mr Cave said none of the eye witnesses saw any clothes on the ground, just the injured dog.

The court heard how the couple - who had been together for a year and a half - had been to a cocktail bar that evening and both had consumed “a substantial amount of alcohol”.

Smee has since moved to a new house away from Mr Doe. Smee claimed she had been subjected to physical violence during the row which alerted neighbours who then called the police.

The judge heard that the family have since moved after receiving abuse from neighbours who were outraged by the treatment of the animal.

The judge told her that she had only pleaded guilty days before the trial was due to begin and said he was not convinced her remorse was genuine.

He said she was “thinking about herself” too much, evidenced by her looking around the courtroom throughout the hearing.