A former champion dog breeder who caused national outrage when he admitted killing and burying sick and injured greyhounds on his allotment was spared jail yesterday.

David Smith was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay the same amount in costs.

But Judge Peter Armstrong told him at Durham Crown Court that he would have been locked away, had he been before him on an animal cruelty charge.

Instead the Environment Agency prosecuted the 57-year-old father-of-three, of Northdene Terrace, Seaham, County Durham, for disposing of waste - the dead greyhounds - without a permit.

Smith, a newsagent and builder's merchant, admitted the offence.

The public gallery was packed and animal rights protesters waved placards outside the court during the hearing, which was told Smith had received death threats following publicity about him killing the dogs with a bolt gun and burying them, for which he sometimes received a £10 payment.

Peter Schofield, representing Smith, said: "Mr Smith tells me his family have had their lives turned around completely and they have been through eight months of hell. That is, I submit, an accurate assessment of the situation.

"He is genuinely remorseful that at 57 he should be appearing at Crown Court on this issue."

He said Smith had put down around 40 dogs in a year.

He said Smith, who had "ceased the practice completely", had taken over the burying of greyhounds from his father.

Judge Armstrong said: "As far as the control of pollution is concerned there seems to be no evidence of significant damage to the environment or water supply in the nearby beck. That is not to say it is not a hazard and I have to take that into account.

"The appropriate sentence is one of a financial penalty.

"It should take away the profit you would otherwise have made and should serve as a reminder to you not to be involved in this sort of offence again."

Smith declined to comment as he walked away from Durham Crown Court, while animal rights protesters hurled insults at him.

But he said last year: "I was doing society a favour."

He was driven from court in a black Mercedes, escorted by a police car.

Jan Lakey, of Greyhound Action North East, said the exact number of greyhounds buried by Smith - estimated by some to run into thousands - had not been established.

She said: "The sentence is no deterrent and no punishment. I am extremely disappointed that the RSPCA did not prosecute.

"This case was about animal cruelty, and that is what he should have been prosecuted for, not for environmental offences."

Smith had pleaded guilty at a previous hearing to a single charge under Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations that on July 12 last year he disposed of waste, namely the dead dogs, on land without a permit.