A DOG owner who was given a suspended jail sentence after his out-of-control lurcher attacked a grandad and his pet dog has narrowly escaped a prison term for a second time.

Edward Hall was sentenced to 21 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to do 50 hours of unpaid work after the attack in Askam left Edmund Turner and his dog Saffy both needing emergency medical treatment.

The Mail: Edmund Turner with his beloved dog Saffy who were both attacked by another dog Edmund Turner with his beloved dog Saffy who were both attacked by another dog

Hall, 26, appeared at Preston Crown Court on Thursday where he admitted failing to attend two seven-hour sessions of unpaid work without good reason on May 7 and 14.

The defendant has completed 20 hours and 15 minutes of unpaid work after attending two sessions on June 4 and 11, after the breach report was made.

Holly Nelson, prosecuting, told the court: "In the breach report, written before those attendances, his offender manager has described him as having demonstrated poor compliance, then having offered him eight sessions of unpaid work, with six unacceptable absences."

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Hall, of Broughton Road, in Dalton, was offered the chance to complete 30 per cent of his hours online but told the court he is 'no good with computers'.

Jimmy Vakil, defending, told the court that Hall worked 'all the hours God sent', and according to a reference from his employer, Robert Brady, a landscape gardener, is an important part of the company and is highly thought of.

Hall is solely responsible for paying a mortgage and cares for four children, which he struggled with when his wife went back to work as a carer two months ago, said Mr Vakil.

Mr Vakil said: "The suspended sentence order in the first instance was giving him a chance, and he did not grasp that with both hands as he should have done, but it's not a lie that he had childcare issues, and it was not a deliberate attempt to stick two fingers up to the order, or to the probation service.

"He got his priorities wrong.

"Since the breach report was brought to his attention he has managed to re-juggle things so that he has attended on the last two occasions.

"It goes without saying that it would be a sword of Damocles over his head, he knows with one minor aberration, there is only one place he could go."

Judge Archer addressed the defendant: "I should be sending you to prison this morning and that's what I intended to do when I walked through that door not ten minutes ago - that was until I was told that you have, albeit belatedly, begun to prioritise the work that you should have prioritised six months ago."

Judge Archer adjourned the sentencing until July 11 and said that Hall had to attend unpaid work every Saturday for four weeks until the hearing to avoid prison - and more hours may be added to the order at that hearing regardless of his actions.