A man found guilty by a jury of commanding his dog to bite a police officer as he resisted arrest has had his appeal against sentence dismissed.

James Marcus Doherty received three years for unlawful wounding after inciting his Staffordshire bull terrier to bite a police officer during an arrest on July 17, 2023. He was also sentenced for several driving offences to run concurrently.

He had denied a single count of unlawful wounding, but a seven-strong jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict following a trial last year.

The trial heard that Doherty, 40, repeatedly shouted to Staffordshire terrier Luna to 'get her, bite her’ when a female officer attempted to arrest him.

The female sergeant received three puncture wounds to her right thigh which a medical expert told the jury were highly consistent with a dog bite injury.

At an appeal hearing this week, Doherty’s advocate Paul Rogers argued the three-year sentence was too harsh. He questioned whether the dog could be classed as a ‘highly dangerous weapon’ and whether Doherty could command the dog to bite or whether she just responded to the volatile situation.

However, it was noted the sentences for the series of driving offences, which included driving while disqualified and two counts of failing to provide a breath test sample, ran concurrently to the wounding charge.

Prosecutor Roger Kane argued the length of sentence was justified with the offence committed while Doherty was on bail as well as his ‘appalling record’.

Judges of Appeal Cross, Deemsters Cross, Pratt and Farrell rejected the appeal, and the sentence remains as it is.