A DOG walker who was in charge of a dangerous breed when it savaged an 11-week-old puppy to death has said: “I am so sorry for what happened.”

David McKenzie, 51, was walking pitbull Lucky when the dog leapt into a garden and attacked pup Millie, who was a cavapoo - a crossbreed between a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel .

McKenzie, of Broad Close, Barrow, was handed a four-month suspended sentence after admitting Lucky was dangerously out of control during the incident on July 22.

Preston Crown Court heard that at around 12.30pm McKenzie was walking the dog off the lead for his neighbour Mollie Sharpe - who had fostered Lucky from Barrow pound, believing she was rehoming a Labrador X Staffordshire Bull Terrier.

But when Lucky spotted little Mollie playing in the garden at her home in Flass Meadows, Barrow, the pitbull jumped over the fence and locked her jaws around the tiny pup, tearing her from her owner’s arms.

Recorder David Potter, sentencing, said: “Her owner picked her pup up and shouted at both you (McKenzie) and the dog.

“You made no effort to stop or remove the dog from the garden.

“You totally abdicated responsibility for the dog, who by this time was dangerously out of control.

“Lucky then seized Millie by the legs, pulled her from the arms of her owner, and in horrific circumstances savaged the pup to death.”

In a victim statement read to the court, Millie’s owner said: “I can’t get the horrible images out of my head. I feel guilty and wish I had read the situation better.”

A neighbour, who heard Mollie’s screams, ran out of her house to try and help her owner prise Lucky off the little dog.

But they were unable to save little Millie, who died during the attack.

Both women were injured during the attack and the neighbour had to have a tetanus jab and a course of antibiotics as a result.

When the police arrived they told Mrs Sharpe her beloved dog was in fact a pitbull and a banned breed.

The dog was destroyed on August 25.

Speaking after McKenzie was sentenced, Mrs Sharpe said: “It was absolutely heartbreaking. I feel for Millie’s owner, I really do, but when they seized Lucky I said ‘please, just put her to sleep. I don’t want her to suffer. It was inevitable'.”

McKenzie added: “It was an awful, terrible thing that happened.

“It happened so quickly and I panicked. It was absolutely awful.

“I am so sorry for Millie’s owners.”

McKenzie must remain at home from 9pm till 6am for four months under the terms of his suspended sentence.

He has also been ordered to pay compensation to the two women who were injured during the attack.