An 11-year-old schoolgirl was left physically and emotionally scarred after being bitten by a large dog. The same animal also injured a 74-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman during three separate attacks.
The terrified girl suffered a deep wound to her wrist after the dog suddenly "lunged at her" as she walked home from school. She had been a dog lover but had been left suffering nightmares after the attack and she was now afraid to go near dogs, Hull Crown Court heard.
Faisal Waleed, 30, of Alliance Avenue, off Spring Bank West, Hull, admitted three offences of being the owner of a brown Alsatian-type dog that was dangerously out of control and caused injury on November 30, December 1 and December 16, Hull Daily Mail reports.
Rachel Scott, prosecuting, said that, on the first occasion, a 74-year-old man was out on his daily morning walk at 8am in Victoria Dock, Hull, when a large dog ran out at him from behind a wall in the Lock Keepers Court area and attacked him by biting his right arm.
The dog took him to the ground and the pensioner was yelling and screaming at it to let him go. Waleed tried to get the dog off the victim and it initially let go but it then lashed out again, biting his left shoulder. The dog again let go but bit the man on the right shoulder.
Waleed apologised and offered the pensioner money and a taxi home. He also offered to telephone for an ambulance and to clean the wound but the victim "understandably refused" and went to hospital on foot.
The man suffered cuts and severe bruises to his right arm and bruises to both shoulders. He later said: "I am now very conscious of any dog that I see in the street. I now feel very anxious when I see dogs off-lead.
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"I was fortunate enough to be wearing a thick coat, which took in most of the damage. I think that if I had not been wearing it, I would have been more seriously injured.
"I suffered for a few months afterwards with pain in the affected areas, which, thankfully, now has worn off. I sometimes get flashbacks of the incident, particularly when I am walking through the area where the attack happened.
"I am wary of any dog and look carefully around myself whenever I go out. I even jumped at a bird the other day, which I don't think I would have done if I had not been attacked."
The next day, a 20-year-old woman was walking in Lock Keepers Court at 7pm when she saw Waleed with two large dogs. The one that had attacked the man the day before was on a lead but Waleed was not holding it and the lead was dragging along the ground.
As the woman and her mother walked by, that dog jumped towards the daughter, taking hold of her right arm in its mouth and biting down. Waleed did not try to help.
"The dog continued to bite her arm and jumped up towards her face," said Miss Scott. "This went on for about one minute."
Waleed did then get off the bench where he had been sitting and struggled to pull the dog off the woman. "The dog did release her arm," said Miss Scott. Waleed returned to sitting on the bench and shouted: "Ambulance, ambulance."
The woman's jacket, valued at £300, was torn. She suffered red marks and bruises to her arm.
"She now has an increased fear of dogs," said Miss Scott. "That's very disappointing to her because she is a dog lover."
The woman still had pains in her arm from the attack and it felt weakened. She believed that she had muscle damage and she had pain and aching when working. "It's very uncomfortable," she said.
"I have been left with lasting damage to my arm and permanent mental issues through my fear of dogs and being attacked."
On December 16, an 11-year-old girl was walking home from school on Lock Keepers Court when she saw the dog being walked on an elastic lead rather than a proper lead. Waleed was holding it with only one hand.
As the girl walked by, the dog started barking at her and she had to back away. "The dog lunged at her and broke away from the defendant," said Miss Scott. "It bit her on the left wrist, causing her to the fall to the floor.
"She was screaming and could see blood running down her arm. The defendant pulled the dog away, initially without success. On pulling a second time, it did let go of her. A passer-by saw what happened and helped her and called an ambulance."
Waleed said: "Please, I'll do anything. Come back to my flat." He started to punch and kick the dog repeatedly. The girl suffered a deep wound to her wrist, which had to be stitched.
Her mother later said that the girl, now aged 12, suffered nightmares and had been referred for therapy, although she was still waiting. She was now scared of dogs. "She loved dogs before this," said the mother.
The girl now avoided dogs when she saw them in the street. She and her mother had been "seriously impacted" by the incident. The girl still did not have feeling in two of the fingers of her left hand. "She is still extremely frightened of dogs and now doesn't want to go anywhere near them," said the mother. They had a rescue dog at home and she was "okay" with that but was now very wary.
"She will avoid any that she does not know," said the mother. "She is especially frightened to go near any big dogs.
"The nightmares are still continuing and the nightmares are upsetting her greatly. Her personality has changed. She has lost a lot of confidence even now six months later."
During police interview, Waleed showed concern for the girl's welfare. "He knew his dog was dangerous and crazy," said Miss Scott. The dog was too strong for him to control.
It was unwell when seized by the police and was later put down after Waleed apparently did not want to pay vet's fees for it.
Julia Baggs, mitigating, said: "These are troubling offences, which led to deeply unpleasant injuries." Waleed got the dog from someone that he did not know and it was primarily as company for him.
"He was living alone at the time in a flat on Victoria Dock," said Miss Baggs. "He was struggling clearly with the dog's behaviour and was not aware that it was going to be aggressive.
"The dog has been destroyed. He doesn't recall being asked to pay vet's fees."
Waleed fully understood the impact of the dog attacks on the victims and he wanted to apologise. "He doesn't want any more dogs," said Miss Baggs. "This has troubled him and worried him."
Waleed was an asylum seeker from Kuwait and he had left that country because of fears of persecution for religious reasons. It was believed that his asylum claim had failed but Waleed was apparently not aware of that.
He had a wife and a six-year-old son but he had not been able to see them. He was worried about not being able to return to Kuwait because of religious problems.
Judge John Thackray KC told Waleed: "All three victims were attacked and injured. Your victims must have been terrified. It must have been obvious to you, if not before the first incident, then inevitably after the second, that your dog could behave dangerously.
"You behaved with a reckless disregard for the safety of others. The incidents could so easily have led to a fatality. Only good fortune prevented that.
"Understandably, your actions have had a profound effect upon your victims. They may never fully recover from these attacks."
Waleed was jailed for two years and was banned from owning a dog indefinitely.
