A dog has been destroyed after it bit a woman in Highworth earlier this year.
Mark Kemp, 57, was looking after his ex-partner’s bull mastiff-cross it viciously attacked his next-door neighbour on 8 March this year.
The defendant, of Home Farm, appeared at Swindon Magistrates’ Court this morning (1 September) charged with being in charge of a dog causing injury whilst dangerously out of control.
It was the Crown Prosecution Service’s case that Kemp had taken the dog, named Barney, out of the house by holding onto his collar, rather than using a leash despite knowing of its aggressive temperament.
The animal pulled away from him before lunging forward and biting the woman, causing her injuries that required hospital treatment.
In a victim impact statement, the victim said: “I did not leave my flat for a couple of weeks after the incident. I would just worry all the time.
“Thankfully the dog was taken from the house by the police which reassured me and made me feel much safer.
“I still feel emotionally stressed. It has left me very depressed and I am now on medication after being diagnosed with PTSD from that incident.
“I would not feel safe if Barney were to come back.”
The court heard that the dog was destroyed after Kemp entered a guilty plea earlier this year.
On hearing that it took Wiltshire Police three weeks to seize the dog following the attack, district judge Joanna Dickens said: “The inaction of the police left this woman trapped in her flat, when this was clearly a very serious incident and the dog should have been removed.”
Defence solicitor Steve Langton said his client was not opposed to the euthanisation of Barney and understood the pet could not return home.
Ms Dickens spared Kemp of an immediate custodial sentence, handing him a 12-week jail term suspended for one year.
Despite Wiltshire Police asking for costs of more than £2,000 for kennel and euthanisation fees, no compensation was imposed on the man, who is claiming benefits.
He was also disqualified from owning, or being in charge of, a dog for four years.
