A woman has been jailed for three years after ordering her dog to attack a stranger.

Vickilee Galloway set the Staffordshire Bull Terrier on Stacey Findlay in her neighbour's flat after an argument in Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, in February last year.

Ms Findlay was left with bite marks on her arm and had part of her ear torn off, with the cartilage damaged.

The terrier then turned on co-owner Brian Pennie, who lived in the flat, leaving the 68-year-old with a large part of his left ear missing.

Judge Lord Kinclaven rejected a plea to spare Galloway a jail sentence at the High Court in Edinburgh on Wednesday.

He told Galloway: "There is no alternative to a custodial sentence and it requires to be a significant custodial sentence."

Lord Kinclaven said a vet would be appointed to destroy Galloway's dog and banned her from owning dogs for life.

Galloway, 37, who has previous convictions for assault, earlier admitted attacking Ms Findlay to her severe injury and permanent disfigurement by inciting the terrier to assault her.

She also pleaded guilty to being the owner of a dog which was dangerously out of control.

Defence counsel Emma Toner said Galloway, formerly of Willowbank Road, Peterhead, had been a responsible dog owner in the past.

She said: "Her position is she had no expectation that the dog was capable of causing such injuries or would behave in that manner. The dog was never trained by her to attack anyone."

During the trial, advocate depute Gillian Ross told the court the incident happened after Galloway fell out with Ms Findlay while drinking in Mr Pennie's flat.

She said: "The accused started telling the complainer that her name was not, in fact, Stacey."

Ms Ross said Galloway then told her pet dog Jake to attack the other woman.

She told the court: "She used the words 'get her', 'Jake attack', or something similar.

"She was bitten on the arm which caused her to fall to the ground. The dog then started biting and attacking her left ear."

Galloway eventually managed to get the dog under control by grabbing his collar after it injured Mr Pennie and an ambulance was called out to the property.

Mr Pennie also had a 10cm wound on the left side of his neck which left his muscle exposed.

Ms Toner said her client, who turned up late for her court appearance on September 7, had lived through an eventful 24 hours because she had returned to her council flat in Peterhead on Tuesday to find she had been evicted.

All her belongings were locked inside the property and she was appearing at court in the same clothes she had worn the previous day.

She was then forced to travel more than 30 miles to court in a taxi which she could barely afford because her friend let her down with giving her a lift into Aberdeen.

Ms Toner told the court on Wednesday that Galloway could not remember shouting at the dog or making any gesture towards Ms Findlay.