Cliff Notes – Love Island star wins appeal against prison sentence
- Jack Fincham wins appeal against prison sentence for dangerous dog offences
- He successfully appealed his initial six-week prison sentence for owning a dangerously out-of-control dog, resulting in a revised sentence of 12 weeks’ custody suspended for 18 months.
- The court determined that the original sentence was not “just in the circumstances,” highlighting Fincham’s significant personal progress since his last hearing.
- Fincham’s dog, Elvis, was involved in multiple incidents, including biting a runner and behaving dangerously in public, leading to the original charges against him.
Jack Fincham wins appeal against prison sentence for dangerous dog offences
Former Love Island winner Jack Fincham has won an appeal against his prison sentence for two dangerous dog offences.
Fincham, 32, was sentenced to six weeks imprisonment at Southend Magistrates’ Court on 29 January after pleading guilty to two counts of having a dangerously out-of-control black cane corso.
But within hours of the sentencing, he was released on conditional bail and vowed to appeal it.
On Friday, Fincham, who won the ITV dating show with Dani Dyer in 2018, was told by a judge at Basildon Crown Court that the original sentence had not been “just in the circumstances”.
The animal was said to be out of control
The Love Island star wins appeal against prison sentence after an extensive legal battle.
The order of 12 weeks custody – suspended for 18 months – has been lengthened by three months, Judge Leigh told the court.
The court heard previously that Fincham’s dog, Elvis, bit and injured the arm of a runner named Robert Sudell in Swanley, Kent, in September 2022.
Separately in June 2024, the dog grabbed a woman’s leg in Fincham’s hometown of Grays, Essex. It left no injury but the animal was said to be out of control.
Fincham attended a police interview of his own volition that month, when he received a caution and was told to keep the dog muzzled.
Prosecuting, Hannah Steventon said police then attended a hotel in August 2024 following reports the dog had been in a public pool area and was not on a lead or muzzled.
His own stupidity
Defending, Richard Cooper, said Fincham had chosen the hotel specifically because it was advertised as “dog-friendly” online.
He then “let him off the lead at the swimming pool”, broadcasting the scene to his social media followers, “of which there are about two million”, he said.
Judge Leigh described this as “his own stupidity”.
As part of the original sentence, Fincham was ordered to pay £3,680, including £2,000 in kennelling costs, a fine of £961, and £200 in compensation to Mr Sudell.
His lawyer said he had made “remarkable progress” since his last court appearance, “returning to a nine-to-five job” and boxing.
The judge warned him to be “very careful now”.