Spared, the five pugs facing death penalty for nipping at postie
FIVE pugs who surrounded a postman and nipped at his legs have been spared a death sentence.
Owner Allen Parkinson, 75, was hauled into court after the dogs escaped through open French windows and set about harassing Steve Humphreys as he tried to deliver a package, a court heard.
But the Cheshire grandfather has been spared the ordeal of having his pets put to sleep after they were given a reprieve by a judge.
Mr Humphreys ran back to his van in a bid to escape, but the pack caught up with him as he was about to get into the vehicle.
He was then bitten on the arm and face by a bulldog cross of Parkinson’s – which was also involved in the attack along with the five pugs and a dachshund. Two passersby intervened to prevent him being bitten further. The postman spent four days in hospital and was off work for two months, suffering permanent scarring.
Retired construction engineer Parkinson admitted having dangerous dogs out of control at Manchester Magistrates’ Court earlier this year.
He has now been spared a destruction order for the pugs and instead fined £250 after the court heard last week how his bulldog cross had already been put to sleep.
Royal Mail now refuses to post letters at his £800,000 detached home in Wilmslow following the incident on September 22 last year. Prosecutor Robin Lynch told the earlier hearing how the dogs came out and ‘attacked’ Mr Humphreys. ‘They bit his legs and he immediately began to run back to the van,’ he said.
‘But before he got there the larger dog bit his face and arm.’
He said Parkinson was interviewed but claimed he hadn’t seen what happened and that his dogs were ‘friendly’. The court heard Parkinson suggested the postman’s injuries were scratches from sharp parts of the garden fence.
But the prosecutor said the victim was ‘clear’ there had been no warning about the dogs, which had bitten a postman the year before.
In a statement, Mr Humphreys told police the incident had ‘a massive impact’ on him, causing ‘recurring nightmares’. ‘I am anxious, emotional, get regular flashbacks and am doubting myself as a person,’ he added. ‘I am finding it very hard to have our own dog at home.’ The court heard he was pursuing a civil claim against the householder.
Defending Parkinson, who worked on airport projects for the military in the Falklands and has been married for 51 years, Forz Khan said it had been ‘a very traumatic episode’ for the grandfather-of-nine, leaving him ‘sleepless’, ‘nauseous’, and ‘unable to eat’.
The lawyer claimed Mr Humphreys had entered the dog enclosure ‘ despite there being a very clear “no entry” sign’.
Mr Khan told the court: ‘ That enclosure is the dogs’ area... but the postman went in and the dogs were worried and were protecting their area and they tried to defend it.’
He said the dogs were ‘like family’ to Parkinson and his wife, and that they were no threat to the public. Parkinson declined to comment after the hearing.
Royal Mail reported 2,445 dog attacks on staff last year, resulting in 1,622 days of absence.
‘Recurring nightmares’