Suspended jail for man whose dogs bit cyclists

TWO cyclists ended up in hospital after being attacked by a pair of out-of-control dogs, a court has heard.

Matthew Hunter, 52, from Hunters Rest, Silverwell, near Truro, appeared at Truro Crown Court for sentencing on Wednesday after pleading guilty to two offences of being the owner of a dog dangerously out of control and causing injury.

Nigel Wraith, prosecuting, told the court how the two male cyclists stopped by the Chiverton junction on June 17 last year to have a look at some of the £330m dualling work going on and see how the former roundabout had given way to a new layout.

The two friends stopped on a single-track lane in an area where the road was fenced off to cars and it was then that two large Alsatian dogs, one brown and one black, ran out of Hunter’s property and attacked them.

Mr Wraith said: “The two cyclists heard dogs barking then saw two large Alsatians running at them. One of the dogs bit one of the cyclists on his buttocks area and knocked him over and bit him on the thigh. The other cyclist was bitten on the calf by the other dog.”

He said the dogs were called back onto Hunter’s property but both cyclists had to go to A&E at the Royal Cornwall Hospital at Treliske, for stitches, tetanus jabs and a course of antibiotics.

Mr Wraith told the court that Hunter also threatened the two cyclists telling them he would “thump them” if they didn’t leave immediately. In a victim impact statement, one of the cyclists said he had been unable to ride for weeks and his wounds caused him to faint in A&E when he attended on that day while he had found it difficult to walk for a while.

The other cyclist said he had been left fearful and anxious, adding: “It could have been very different. It could have been fatal had it been a child. I fear that in the context of the incident, the dogs were set on us.”

The court heard how the two dogs, named Zeus and Jetson, have since been euthanised. It was also heard that Devon and Cornwall Police officers had attended Hunter’s property on several occasions before and warned him to keep his dogs under control or ensure they could not escape from his property.

Robin Smith, defending, said the dogs had been excited by the strange noise caused by the two cyclists when they moved the road work fence outside the property to get a look at the nearby A30. He said the incident had not been deliberate, adding: “Mr Hunter has recently lost his mother to cancer. His 56-year-old sister has died of a heart condition. His wife of two decades has left him. Because of a knee operation, he is unable to work and he has not got a clue about what he will do in the future. He’s now on benefits.”

His Honour Judge Simon Carr sentenced Hunter to eight months in prison suspended for two years and ordered that £2,000 in compensation is to be repaid to the victims. He said: “This is a sad case where two dogs in the peak of their health lost their lives because of your incompetence and lack of care for them.

“You were told before that your property was not secure and your dogs should not go in the back garden or you should secure the property. You didn’t do either. People shouldn’t have dogs go out of their property and attack others. You issued threats instead of calling an ambulance. As a result, people received significant and long term injuries.”