Owner spared jail over ‘shocking’ dog attack
Toddler bitten by Staffordshire bull
A DOG owner whose Staffordshire Bull Terrier sunk its teeth into a toddler during a ‘serious’ attack has been given a suspended sentence – and the animal destroyed.
As reported in May 2019, a Waterlooville community was left horrified after fearing the worst for an 18-month old at an address in Tennyson Crescent.
Eyewitnesses spotted the infant laid precariously on the grass covered in a blanket as emergency services raced to the scene before the child was taken to Queen Alexandra Hospital.
Now the owner of the dog has appeared at Portsmouth Crown Court.
Colin Chapman, 41, of Milton Road, Waterlooville, was sentenced to four months’ jail suspended for 24 months after being convicted of being the owner in charge of a dog dangerously out of control causing serious injury.
He was also disqualified from having custody of a dog for five years.
Chapman was also sentenced for a separate theft offence.
The child, which suffered injuries to the hand, has since fully recovered.
The Staffordshire Bull Terrier was put down before the sentencing hearing after a dog destruction order was previously made.
At the time of the attack, police were seen in the area hours afterwards combing the road for clues.
Eyewitnesses were left shocked at the time. ‘I saw the baby carried outside from the block before it was put on the floor in a blanket – it looked bad. The ambulance then turned up and took it to hospital,’ one person said.
‘There was shouting and screaming.
‘It was all going off outside the block.’
A neighbour added: ‘It’s shocking. You don’t see that many dogs around here but you wouldn’t expect this sort of thing to happen.
‘Dogs should be kept on a lead.’
A spokesman for Scas said at the time: ‘We were contacted by Hampshire police control room informing us that an 18-month-old child had been attacked by a neighbour’s dog at a property on Tennyson Crescent and requiring our support at the incident they were attending.
‘We sent an ambulance to the scene and the ambulance crew treated the child who had received injuries to their hand and they were then taken to the QA Hospital for further assessment and treatment.’