3.49 AM Friday, 29 March 2024
  • City Fajr Shuruq Duhr Asr Magrib Isha
  • Dubai 04:56 06:10 12:26 15:53 18:37 19:52
29 March 2024

1,000 stitches after attack by friend's dog

Published
By Staff

A ten-year-old boy needed more than a thousand stitches after he was savaged by a friend's family dog.

The youngster spent four days in a specialist hospital being treated for horrific multiple bites to his arms, left leg, back and waist areas, magistrates in Gloucester were told, the Daily Mail reported on Tuesday.

Prosecutors asked the court to order the destruction of the four-year-old pedigree Staffordshire bull terrier 'Blade', whose Kennel Club name is JDS Blazing Bigboy.

But magistrates decided to delay a decision on whether Blade lives or dies until December 23, when they will also pass sentence on the dog's owner, Clayton Summerell, 42.

Summerell, of Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, admitted failing to keep Blade under proper control when the black and white dog savaged the boy on February 16 this year.

He denied a second charge of having a dog dangerously out of control when Blade escaped from his home on April 5 this year and growled at two policemen who tried to catch him.

But magistrates found him guilty of that charge too and bailed him while a pre-sentence report is written.

They warned that they would be considering jail as a possible option as well as ordering Blade's destruction at the next hearing at Cheltenham Magistrates' Court.

Prosecutor Peter Ashby had shown the court pictures of the injuries suffered by the boy, now aged 11, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

He said the boy was in Summerell's home with his young son when Blade attacked him.

Summerell was out at the time and the only other person in the house was a 15-year-old girl who was baby-sitting Summerell's son, he said.

At lunchtime the girl decided to take Blade for a walk, which she had done many times before.

She knew that Blade did not like the 10-year-old boy so she warned him to get upstairs out of the way when she released the dog from his cage, Ashby said.

But the boy ignored her and carried on playing a video game.

'The dog ran past her from the conservatory, through the open doorways into the dining room and then living room where it jumped up at the boy,' said Ashby.

'It then ran back towards the girl but then turned again and attacked the boy. It bit him severely on the arms, left leg and waist. It caused deep wounds and lacerations.'

The court heard the attack ended when the boy punched the dog on the nose and the girl took the animal into the kitchen.

The boy spent four days in hospital, where he underwent surgery.

His mother said he was lucky to be alive.

Ashby said: 'His mother has made a statement saying her son sustained horrendous injuries to the arms, back and one of his legs and was in severe pain.

'He underwent a three-hour operation by specialist surgeons and was stitched extensively, both internally and externally.

'She was relieved he actually survived the incident. She felt if it had been a smaller child it would quite probably not have survived. She has specifically asked for a destruction order for this dog.'

Nick Cooper, for Summerell, said Blade had never attacked anyone before, despite twice escaping from his garden before the February incident.

The dog had also escaped in April, when it was rounded up by the police.

Pc Jonathan Williams, one of the officers who saw Blade on the loose on April 5 and followed it into a field, said he knew about the attack on the boy a few weeks earlier and had seen the youngster's injuries.

This made him and his colleague, Pc Mark Wiacek, very apprehensive when Blade stopped, turned and started growling at them, he said.

'I knew this dog had savaged the boy and that he had received over 1,000 stitches," said the officer.

'I had seen the boy's injuries and that was why I was very wary of Blade and his capabilities.'

He said when Blade growled at them, he and Pc Wiacek backed off and called a police dog handler to the scene. They then fetched Summerell from his home and took him to the scene to harness Blade and take him home.

After today's hearing the boy victim's grandfather, who was in court, said: 'He's got to have more surgery because some of his scars on his right arm are not settling down.

'He has become very wary of dogs because of this.

'I spoke to one of the doctors after they'd operated on my grandson and he said that when he got to 115 stitches he just stopped counting.'