Police had gone to speak to alleged thief Matthew Millard, 35, on July 1 last year, about a motor scooter stolen from Cooleman Court in Weston Creek. But what ensued was a devastating and terrifying ordeal, revealed in shocking audio of the attack played to the ACT Supreme Court during a sentence hearing for Millard on Tuesday.

He has pleaded guilty to stealing the scooter and to committing an unlawful act causing grievous bodily harm. The court was packed with senior officers and uniformed police come to support their colleague.

"I just had this feeling something bad was going to happen," the victim told the court. When Millard let the dog out it went for the officers and locked onto the victim's hand. The dog bit her calf and ripped the muscle from the bone. Her hand burned with pain and it turned out the dog had severed a nerve.

Warning: Disturbing audio

At one point she heard a gunshot and the dog released its bite. For several terrifying moments she believed it was Millard who held the gun, but it was her colleagues trying to help. The dog came at the officer again as she cowered against the wall. "That was the worst moment in my life, against the wall, thinking I was going to die," the officer said.

Eventually a man from the neighbourhood grabbed the dog by the collar and got him inside the home. Guilt kicked in almost immediately. She felt she was making a fuss.

The victim was taken to hospital where she waited days to have surgery even as the reality of her wounds became clear. Doctors used more than 80 stitches in her calf, 30 in her hand and 10 in her hip. When the officer finally had surgery she was accidentally given a double dose of ketamine, nearly pushing her into drug-induced psychosis.

She hallucinated a dog in the ward. She later suffered a panic attack, one of many to come. When finally released, the constable was in a wheelchair for more than a month and reliant on the support of her partner.

Later, her calf started rotting, and she was forced into another surgery. On the way to hospital, her car was T-boned, and while fortunately uninjured, she was forced to direct traffic until colleagues arrived.

Her fiancé wrote a victim impact statement too. He said the woman was racked with guilt that she hadn't properly performed her job but that she was "a believer".

He called Millard a burden to the ACT community.

Prosecutor Trent Hickey said Millard opened the door of his house and egged on his dog by saying "go, go, go". But that was disputed by the defence. Milard's lawyer Hugh Jorgensen said he had been saying "no, no, no". He said the basis of the plea to the charge was that knowing the dog was dangerous, and as the keeper of the dog, Millard had failed to secure the dog or keep it under control.

Mr Hickey said: "This man has either come to the point, or is fast approaching it, where the community needs to be protected from him." He argued only a sentence of full-time imprisonment would be appropriate. At 35-years-old Millard had generated a 30-page criminal history. Mr Hickey also raised the possibility of the judge making an order that would prevent Millard owning dogs.

"This man should never own a dog," Justice Burns agreed, but added that he did not appear to have the appropriate powers to bar the man permanently from keeping a dog, and that it was a question the government might have to separately consider.

Justice Burns will sentence Millard in May.