10 years jail for owner of dog that savaged a lollipop man to death
He was rushed to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary for emergency surgery but died 12 hours later.
A jury at Leeds Crown Court heard how Alex had previously attacked three other neighbours and a council workman, leading to Joseph being handed a dog control order in 2012.
The order demanded the dog be neutered, insured and micro-chipped – but Joseph never bothered to comply with any of these.
Just eight days before the fatal attack police visited his home and seized the dog for investigation – but then returned it.
Still Joseph, the father of an eight-year-old and 14-month-old twins, made no attempt to contain the risk posed by it.
Jurors took 40 minutes to find him guilty of having a dog which caused injury resulting in death while dangerously out of control.
Passing sentence, Judge Sally Cahill told him the attack happened because of his “arrogant and stubborn disregard” for the welfare and safety of others.
She said: “Mr David Ellam met his death in the most appalling manner.
“He came out of his own front door and on his doorstep, he was attacked and mauled to death by your dog Alex. Because of your arrogance this dog, which should have been carefully and strictly controlled, was kept in circumstances whereby she was able to escape and attack Mr Ellam.
“You did things and failed to do things which in my judgement were not minimal, they were the root cause of this death. You could have muzzled Alex. That one simple act would have prevented this tragedy and Mr Ellam would still be alive today.”
Mr Ellam’s devastated partner Claire Josling sat in the public gallery near friends of Joseph as he was led from the dock.
In a victim impact statement read by prosecutor Jonathan Sharp, Miss Josling said it was “hard to imagine” life without Mr Ellam.
She added: “Losing Dave was like someone had turned out the light in our lives.”
Katherine Pierpoint, defending Joseph, who worked as a courier, said he had been “genuinely shocked” by what happened.
After the hearing, Richard Walters, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “This was an appalling case in which a man lost his life in a horrific, brutal and sustained dog attack.
“Aaron Joseph’s failure to comply with the order led directly to the tragic death of Mr Ellam.”