A Dublin man who violently killed his ill dog in a park full of children because he claimed he couldn't afford the vet bill has avoided a jail term.

In July 44-year-old Liam Dowling of Fitzgibbon Court on Fitzgibbon Street was told by Judge Martin Nolan that he would not jail him if he was judged suitable for community service.

At the time Dowling claimed the dog, a family pet of nine years, had been sick for up to five months and he didn’t have the money to pay for medication.

Yesterday he was handed 200 hours of community service in lieu of a two-year sentence and Judge Nolan also declined to ban Dowling from keeping dogs in future.

A witness saw Dowling swing the Jack Russell dog overhead by its lead and smash it to the ground up to 30 times as he crossed a park area by Clonliffe College.

Garda Shane Mengessidis said that Dowling was also seen putting his foot on the dog's head while it was on the ground and pulling the lead tight.

Dowling pleaded guilty to killing a protected animal at Clonliffe College on August 19, 2014. He has 12 previous convictions, including a four and a half year sentence for a drugs offence.

Judge Nolan commented that “by any standard what happened to this poor dog was incredibly cruel”, but noted that Dowling had been on prescription drugs at the time.

He further noted that Dowling cared for a child and was a “contributing member of society” and said he would not impose a ban on Dowling keeping animals, as he didn't want to deprive the man's child of having a dog.