Darren McCafferty barked the threat at officers after they turned up at his house with an arrest warrant.

The 25-year-old, who lives with his gran in Lynn Walk, Dalvait, refused to answer the door when police arrived on November 27, 2012.

Dumbarton Sheriff Court heard last week that McCafferty instead shouted to officers that they would face a vicious dog if they tried to gain entry.

Prosecuting, John Service, said: “The accused was verbally abusive to police officers.

“On this occasion police officers had attended at the accused’s home address because of an outstanding warrant for his arrest.

“When they went to the door a rottweiler dog was barking within the house. The officers then saw the curtains moving and shortly after the accused shouted out ‘if you force that door that dog will rip you apart.’ “The door was eventually opened by the accused’s grandmother and the accused was arrested and taken to the police station.” McCafferty previously admitted behaving in a threatening and abusive manner, and shouting and uttering threats to the police officers.

He also admitted a charge of damaging a door at a house in Renton by throwing a brick at it.

That offence occurred at a property in Grant Crescent on November 7, 2012.

Mr Service explained: “The property was occupied by someone known to the accused. There was an argument over the possession of CDs at the house. After this argument the accused left the house, however he returned and threw a brick towards the front door. The glass on the front door was smashed and there was extensive damage to the door.” Defence lawyer Bert Thomson told the court that sentence had previously been deferred for his client to be of good behaviour, and the lawyer insisted McCafferty had stayed out of trouble since then.

Sheriff Simon Pender fined McCafferty £270.