The dog bit two women and owner Thomas Finlay has failed to comply with the punishment he was given
Thomas Finlay, pictured outside Hull Crown Court(Image: Hull Live)
The owner of an aggressive dog has been warned to “bring a bag” – and that he will be jailed for Christmas – if he continues to “pick and choose” whether to comply with a suspended prison sentence. Ex-soldier Thomas Finlay was spared prison in October last year after his dog suddenly bit two women – leaving them shocked and terrified – while it was dangerously out of control, Hull Crown Court heard.
Finlay, 57, of Gleneagles Park, east Hull, admitted breaching a one-year suspended prison sentence imposed on October 20 last year. He failed to turn up for rehabilitation appointments on September 29 and October 14 this year.
Judge Gurdial Singh said that it was Finlay’s second breach of the order. He had attended only five out of 15 rehabilitation days and 21 out of 52 appointments.
Judge Singh asked Finlay: “Why are you turning up as and when it suits you? Are you aware that I could lock you up today? It’s not a case of picking and choosing when you do it.
“You need to get your finger out and get on with the appointments. If I find that the order continues as it has, it’s going to be revoked and you will go to prison.
“This is your final chance. I think you are picking and choosing when you go. If I don’t see an improvement, you will go to prison. If you don’t do it, next time, bring a bag and you will go to prison for Christmas.”
Finlay told the court that he did not attend appointments because of illness but he did not produce any evidence. Judge Singh said that he did not believe that Finlay had been ill. The case was adjourned for Finlay to comply.
At the original hearing in October last year, Finlay admitted two offences of being the owner of a brown mixed-breed dog that was dangerously out of control on February 11 and April 11, 2024. The court was told that day that a woman heard two girls screaming in Holderness Road, east Hull, between 8 and 9pm.
Finlay was lying face down on the pavement and he had a bottle of whisky with him. The woman asked him if he was all right but the dog responded to this by biting her on the hand – which she saw as a warning bite.
She shouted robustly at Finlay and told him that the dog had bitten her and that he needed to get up and take control of it. Finlay was stumbling and falling around as he tried to get to his feet.
The woman suffered a 1cm cut that bled. She later said that she was only trying to help Finlay and she did not blame the dog.
On April 16, 2024, a woman was walking home in Dunvegan Road, east Hull, when Finlay again had the dog, which was off the lead and not muzzled. She checked with Finlay that the dog was not dangerous and reached out to it – but it bit her wrist, leaving bite marks on both sides.
Her cardigan was ripped. She was prescribed antibiotics. She saw Finlay a week later and the dog still was not on a lead. The biting incident was a “huge shock” to her and knocked her confidence, even with her own dog. She was frightened and blamed Finlay for what happened. The dog had been destroyed by the police on a vet’s recommendation.
The court heard that day that Finlay had convictions at the time for 121 previous offences, mainly for dishonesty, driving offences and breaches of court orders. He had been jailed for two years in October 1992 for robbery.
He was also jailed in February 2018 for offences including possessing heroin and cocaine with intent to supply.
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