A thug punched a police dog in the face repeatedly after the animal was deployed to catch him when he ran away from an officer.

Selamet Kortoci came to the attention of a police officer on patrol in Borough Green, near Sevenoaks, earlier this month.

But when the PC tried to do a stop and search on Kortoci in his car, he refused to comply and fled from his vehicle.

The officer shouted to him to stop but the 31-year-old continued to run so police dog Indi was let loose.

However, as Indi caught up with Kortoci and stopped him, the thug turned on the dog, punching him in the face.

As the officer neared and tried to restrain Kortoci, of Purley Way, Croydon, the thug broke away again but Indi and the officer, who was also hurt in the struggle, caught hold of him and he was arrested.

Kortoci was charged with assault on an emergency worker and resisting arrest and admitted both offences when he appeared at Maidstone Magistrates’ Court on January 23.

Prosecutor Rajni Prashar told the court the incident happened at about 1pm on January 7 and because Kortochi had admitted the two offences, she was dropping a charge of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.

She added: “He pushed the officer and ran away and the officer shouted he was deploying the dog... as the dog got to him, he punched it in the face numerous times.

“He broke away and when the officer caught up with him again he pulled his thumb back.

“During interview he made no comment to all questions.”

The court also heard, Kortoci was very sorry for what he had done, but had also suffered injury during the incident from Indi as he had bite marks on his leg and head.

Magistrates decided to adjourn sentencing and asked for a pre-sentencing report to be carried out.

Kortoci will return to Sevenoaks Magistrates’ Court to hear his fate on the afternoon of February 13, and was granted bail until then.