Saltburn star Barry Keoghan buys a doggie-guard - after receiving flood of vile messages following split from pop singer Sabrina Carpenter

He is learning all about protecting himself against threats of violence playing a gangster in the forthcoming Peaky Blinders film.

And now Oscar nominee Barry Keoghan is stepping up his security in real life – not with a burly security guard but with one of the furry variety.

The Irish actor has purchased a second Alsatian to train as a protection dog, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. 

The Saltburn star bought the dog after receiving hundreds of vile messages following his split from US pop singer Sabrina Carpenter.

Last December, he revealed the 'disgusting' and 'inhumane' messages had led him to deactivate his Instagram account. 

He also accused fans of harassing his family.

His new dog – Duke – was sourced through professional dog firm Lawless K9 Trainers and is now being coached by experts 200 miles away from Mr Keoghan's London home on Merseyside. 

Protection dogs are trained as companion animals but receive additional specialist training in protecting their owners, a Lawless K9 spokesman explained.

'We are training Barry's dog as a companion first and foremost as we don't do aggression work until they are older,' he said, confirming that the star was also 'involved in the dog's training'.

'A lot of different trainers in the UK don't know what they are doing so they will

train aggression straight away and that is not what we do. We create companions first.'

The Mail on Sunday revealed in 2023 that Keoghan was paying £350 a week to train another Alsatian, Koda, to protect him.