Father pleads guilty after baby killed by sled dog in Lincolnshire

Vince King, seen outside court, had initially denied being in charge of a dangerously out of control dog. Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA

A father has pleaded guilty to being in charge of a dangerously out of control dog, after his three-month-old daughter was fatally attacked by a husky last year.

Vince King, 55, pleaded guilty to a charge relating to the death of his daughter, Kyra King, who sustained fatal head and neck injuries when she was mauled by his sled dog Blizzard.

His former partner and the baby’s mother, Karen Alcock, 41, pleaded guilty to the same charge in December.

King had denied the offence but changed his plea at Lincoln crown court on Thursday just before his trial was due to begin.

The court heard that King owned a number of husky dogs that were bred to compete in sled racing events, and were not kept as pets.

At around 11pm on 6 March last year, the couple were at a car park in Ostlers Plantation, a woodland near Woodhall Spa in Lincolnshire, where the dogs had been racing.

The couple, who are now separated, had returned to the van to rotate the sledding teams when Blizzard escaped through the open front passenger door and attacked the baby who was in a pram nearby.

A quad bike and dog crates inside Vince King’s van. Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA

The prosecutor Jeremy Janes said there was no partition preventing the dogs from moving from the rear of the vehicle into the front, although the animals were usually kept in lockable cages when in the van.

“There is absolutely nothing to prevent a dog from getting from one part to another and out of the van,” he said.

Kyra sustained serious head and neck injuries and died at the scene, where King and Alcock were arrested and later charged with owning or being in charge of a dog that was dangerously out of control.

The court heard that King was the legal owner of the dogs, but Alcock was the last person to interact with Blizzard before the attack.

Janes argued that “it is not possible to separate” their involvement in the incident, as they were both present when the attack occurred.

“No one was in control of Blizzard because both were at the rear of the van getting the second sled team ready,” he said.

Lincolnshire police previously said Blizzard had been kept in isolation at secure kennels since the incident and the force was seeking an order for her to be put down.

King and Alcock are due to be sentenced on 14 August.