Dog ban for Cannock owner after two attacks
A dog owner has been given a suspended jail sentence and banned from keeping dogs for 10 years.
The action came after two people were bitten by his Staffordshire Bull Terrier in separate attacks.
The dog, belonging to Karl Jones, injured a paramedic and neighbour, with both treated in hospital for their injuries.
A destruction order for the animal named Snatch was imposed at Cannock Magistrates Court and 31-year-old Jones was also banned from keeping a dog for 10 years.
He was convicted of being the owner of a dog dangerously out of control and was ordered to pay compensation worth a combined £900 to those who were hurt.
Jones, of Barnard Way, Cannock, was found guilty following two separate trials, but has lodged an immediate appeal against the sentence. This included 12 weeks imprisonment suspended by one year.
The court was yesterday told how the pet had lunged towards Jessica Hyden as she tried to leave her flat into the communal area of the same block as Jones, jumping into her property and grabbing her leg.
Ms Hyden was left bleeding and suffered puncture wounds and scarring to her wrist after the November attack.
Mr Chris Stapleton, defending, said the dog had feared for its own safety after Ms Hyden had been pushed into him following a domestic argument. He claimed this had taken place outside of her flat.
A previous trial was told how ambulance worker Andrew Hopwood was bitten on the wrist while tending Mr Jones who was found collapsed in a park last September.
Jones had denied a charge of being the owner of a dog allowing it to be dangerously out of control in a public place in Hednesford.
