The vicious attack near the Kennet and Avon Canal led to the six-year-old Daisy dying two days later.
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| William Maxwell, owner of the killer dog |
Maxwell, 54, who was living at Burbage Wharf at the time and is now living in Munich, admitted being in charge of a dog which was dangerously out of control in a public place when he appeared before magistrates in Salisbury yesterday.
Maxwell also admitted obstructing WPC Sarah Watts in the execution of her duty by at first denying that he knew anything about the incident last July when Mrs Connolly, 76, of Wootton Rivers, was walking Daisy along the canal towpath.
He was fined £400 for the dangerous dog offence, £100 for obstructing the police officer, ordered to pay £1,000 compensation to Mrs Connolly, £170 towards her vet’s bill and the burial of Daisy and a court surcharge of £15, making a total of £1,770.
Maxwell had pleaded not guilty to being in charge of an out of control dog that bit and injured Mrs Connolly but that charge was amended after the pensioner told Paula Mulhern, prosecuting, she believed her own dog might have bitten her as she grabbed it.
Miss Mulhern said Mrs Connolly was walking along the towpath with Daisy and saw Maxwell cycling towards her with a large dog not on a lead. She said it was bouncing about energetically. Maxwell put the dog on a choker chain and said: “He is playing a bit rough, he is only a puppy.”
Later, near Brimslade Lock, she saw Maxwell riding towards her again. She stepped on to the verge but Maxwell’s dog, called Luka, launched an attack on Daisy, pinning the terrier to the ground and biting its stomach.
“It was only when she picked up her dog that Mrs Connolly realised the extent of its injuries,” said Miss Mulhern.
Boater John Smale ran to her aid when he heard Daisy squealing in pain and carried the dog to the nearest road, where a friend took the dog to Belmont House vets in Pewsey. It had three hours emergency surgery but died two days later.
In a statement Mrs Connolly said: “Thankfully my flashbacks are getting less but I don’t think the sight of Daisy’s stomach when I picked her up will ever leave me.”
Amy Redman, Maxwell's defense attorney, said: “My client wishes to express his deep remorse and sorrow in relation to this incident.”
She said the dog belonged to one of Maxwell’s friends and is now living on a farm in Cornwall.
If he was REALLY sorry he would have done the right thing and put the animal down rather than dumping it onto another community where it could do this again. This gets the NIMBY = not in my backyard label/tag.
She said he had no idea of the seriousness of the wound Daisy had suffered.
[Trying to garner sympathy, his defense attorney said] When police went to his home some days later Maxwell had just received news that his father had died.
“He fully accepts that he misled the police officers and could not face talking to them on that occasion,” she said.
(Gazette & Herald - June 4, 2011)
