AN Ardrossan mum facing jail and having her illegal dog destroyed over a four-week reign of terror in the town has landed in more hot water – after failing to appear at court.

Nicola Wallace, 21, was due to be sentenced this week after her pit bull terrier, named Floyd, attacked three dogs and bit another dog owner.

But a warrant was issued for her arrest after she failed to appear for her sentencing hearing at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court. Floyd savaged a Shih tzu as it was being walked by its teenage owner between Ardneil Court and Island View, leaving it needing emergency medical treatment.

Floyd ran towards the 16-year-old and grabbed hold of her pet before repeatedly biting it on the head and body.

Even when pulled off by a passer-by, Floyd kept biting at the dog as the teen cradled it in her arms. Wallace then appeared on the scene and took Floyd away, saying he was out as he had escaped from her back garden. The other dog was left with extensive injuries and even had to have a tube placed through his neck for five days by vets.

Wallace admitted her guilt over the attack when she appeared in the dock at a pre-trial hearing at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court last month. She admitted being in possession of a pit bull terrier-type dog, which is banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act, at her home in Ardrossan between October 25 and November 25, 2017.

She also pleaded guilty to being responsible for Floyd when he was dangerously out of control in the town on November 3 last year. He ran aggressively towards a woman and her Labrador, snarled at the other dog, jumped on it and bit it on the body.

And on November 25 in the town, Floyd struck again, being dangerously out of control and running aggressively towards a man and his two dogs - a Shih tzu and a Yorkshire terrier.

The owner was bitten on the body. Sentence on Wallace was adjourned until this week for background reports to be prepared and for a judge to decide whether or not Floyd should be destroyed. But when the case against Wallace called at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court on Tuesday, March 13, Wallace was nowhere to be seen.

Her solicitor Brian Holliman said she had phoned his office at 8am to say she had to help her mum with an urgent family matter involving one of her siblings.

But after revealing she also missed an appointment with social workers to allow them to compile crucial background reports, Sheriff Alistair Watson issued a warrant for her arrest.

He said: “I might have been more sympathetic if she’d turned up for her report [meeting].

“A warrant will be granted for the arrest of Nicola Wallace.”