Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Dog owner avoids jail after war vet mauled by akita
Man, 86, & two women attacked by animal
A WOMAN whose dog almost “ripped the throat out” of an elderly war veteran avoided a prison term yesterday.
Helen Blackwood, 44, pleaded guilty to three counts of being the keeper of a canine that attacked people, keeping a dog without a licence and being keeper of a dog which strayed.
A prosecutor said on April 15 last year a mother and daughter were walking on the Quarter Road in Cloughey, Co Down, when the black and white akita escaped from its owner’s front garden.
Ards Magistrates Court was told the younger woman was attacked first and the mother managed to intervene.
However, both were bitten and suffered puncture wounds to their arms and grazing.
They managed to get away when a woman let them into her house.
They were keeping an eye on the dog when they saw an elderly man on the road.
They tried in vain to warn the 86-year-old by shouting but he was unable to hear them.
The lawyer for Ards and North Down Council said the dog went for the man’s throat, causing injuries to his chin. The court heard he was “badly injured”.
The man was knocked to the ground but managed to grab the dog by the collar and twist on top of it.
The court heard passers-by refused to intervene as the Akita was “that aggressive”.
A woman managed to control the animal and remove it.
A nurse passing by was able to give the OAP first aid at the scene, with the man and the two female victims attending Ards Hospital the following day.
The male victim said he “thought it was going to kill him” and he still has flashbacks of the attack.
A lawyer said the council has orders for the dog to be put down and for Blackwood to be disqualified from keeping dogs.
A defence solicitor said Blackwood had inherited the dog from her deceased brother and it should have been destroyed, however, due to Covid difficulties, the dog wasn’t put down. The lawyer said this was a “traumatic incident” but Blackwood didn’t intend for it to happen but accepts it was her fault.
District Judge Mark Hamill said he was “appalled” the dog is still alive and added: “It was one of the worst dog attack cases I’ve ever come across.”
The judge handed Blackwood, of Quarter Road in Cloughey, a four-month prison sentence suspended for three years, fined her £100.
He also ordered her to pay council costs which totalled £296.
Judge Hamill said: “This is a cautionary tale for people who own dogs and don’t have them insured, the dog is let loose and attacked people.”
The judge gave Blackwood 20 weeks to pay the fines and warned her, “If you haven’t paid a penny in 20 weeks, I’ll send you to prison.
“Imagine if it was your family that was attacked, you wouldn’t be impressed at all.”
It’s one of the worst dog attacks I’ve come across JUDGE MARK HAMILL ARDS MAGISTRATES