UNITED KINGDOM -- A 13-YEAR-OLD boy suffered bites that could scar him for life when he was attacked by a dog at Shirebrook, a court heard.
The boy was walking his grandparents’ Jack Russell terrier in Market Place on April 21 when it was approached by a Staffordshire pit bull terrier.
Billy Joe Barber (18) tried to stop the dog but it ran towards the scared Jack Russell, which jumped into the boy’s arms.
Helen Griffiths, prosecuting at Chesterfield magistrates court, said Barber’s dog jumped up. “Its paws were on the boy’s shoulders and it bit his arm, causing extensive injuries necessitating a number of operations and plastic surgery.
“He has been told he will most likely be scarred for life.”
Barber, of Leen Valley Drive, Shirebrook, appeared in court in custody and admitted being in charge of a dog that was dangerously out of control.
He further admitted a £550 cheque fraud at NatWest Bank, Shirebrook, on July 18, entering the King of Diamonds pub in the village with intent to steal on July 8 and breaching a nine-month probation supervision order imposed in May.
He was convicted of being carried in a vehicle taken without the owner’s consent in April.
Deputy District Judge Alan Fowler committed the case to Derby Crown Court on August 26 and remanded Barber in custody.
“Given the serious injuries and the other offences, the powers of this court to sentence the defendant are not sufficient,” said Mr Fowler.
(Derbyshire Times - August 5, 2011)
