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A man who was given £20 to re-home a dog but tied it up with its own lead and dumped it in the Forth and Clyde Canal has been jailed for six months.

Daniel McPhillips was asked to take King Charles Spaniel Alfie to a vet saying he had found him, knowing it would pass the dog to a shelter.

Instead, he had tied up the seven-year-old dog, possibly to a stone, and left it to drown in the canal.

McPhillips was found guilty of causing Alfie unnecessary suffering.

The 26-year-old from Denny was also banned from owning or keeping animals for five years.

Falkirk Sheriff Court was told McPhillips was addicted to crack cocaine and the offence was committed after he had taken taken heroin and Valium.

Animal welfare charity the Scottish SPCA, who reported the case to prosecutors, said it was "a truly shocking case of animal cruelty."

The court heard that McPhillips, 26, had been asked by mother-of-two Tammy Burgoyne to take her dog to a local vet.

Ms Burgoyne told the court her benefits had been cut and she could no longer afford to keep Alfie so she took the "heartbreaking" decision to let him go.

McPhillips texted later to say he had done what she had asked.

A month later Alfie's body was fished out of the canal at Underwood Lock, near Allandale, Stirlingshire.

Ms Burgoyne contacted the Scottish SPCA after seeing pictures of the dog on Facebook after it had been recovered from the water.

A post mortem examination revealed that some of the injuries caused by the lead were as a result of Alfie struggling under the water.

Injuries to his neck were "consistent with strangulation", and there was evidence that he had been tied to a stone.

Sheriff Christopher Shead told McPhillips: "The repugnant nature of this offence is such that a custodial sentence is the only appropriate disposal."