UNITED KINGDOM -- The owner of a Staffordshire Bull Terrier which severed a dog walker’s hand and left him unable to work for six months has been told to expect a prison sentence.
Aaron Winstanley was accused of allowing the animal off its lead in Rufford Walk, Corby, on September 26 last year.
The dog then bit the hand of Richard Boyle, causing severe tendon and nerve damage.
The victim was out walking his German Shepherd and had tried to stop Winstanley’s dog attacking his pet.
Father-of-one Winstanley, 29, of Rufford Walk, initially denied the charge at Corby Magistrates Court on April 20 and was due to stand trial yesterday, but pleaded guilty just before the start of proceedings.
The court heard that he was drinking at the time and had previous convictions for drink and drug-related offences.
Chairman of the bench, Susan Hunt, said: “We feel that this offence was aggravated by the fact that you were drinking and the victim suffered a serious injury.
“We are thinking of a custodial sentence of 18 weeks. You have pleaded guilty at the last minute for reasons we don’t understand.”
The magistrates also expressed concern about the dog’s whereabouts, although Winstanley’s solicitor Andrew Gibson said it was being looked after in Wellingborough.
Mr Gibson, in mitigation, said: “Mr Winstanley wrapped a towel around the complainant’s hand and offered to call him an ambulance.
“He has been seeing more and more of his child so he has had the dog taken away. To think of it as a dangerous dog was hard for him to accept.”
Sentencing was adjourned until Thursday, August 4, for reports, and Winstanley was granted bail.
(Evening Telegraph - July 13, 2011)
