A man "set his dog" on a delivery driver because he didn’t want to collect his food from the front gate, a court heard.
Jack Hughes, 22, formerly of the Everton area, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday after being found guilty following trial of one count of causing actual bodily harm and one count of being in charge of a dangerously out of control dog which bit someone.
Daniel Bramhall, prosecuting, detailed that on October 6, 2021, police received a 999 call just after 10pm stating that an assault was taking place at an address in Everton. The caller stated that a delivery driver was being attacked and a dog was running around in the street.
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Police arrived at the scene and the victim, Hamza Riaz, gave an account of what happened. Mr Bramhall said: “He said he had attended the address to deliver food, but when he knocked at the door there was no answer.
“He could hear a dog barking aggressively.” Hughes then came out of the property acting aggressively, and was angry about how his food had been delivered.
He snatched the food from Mr Riaz, and pushed him over causing him to land on the electric bike he uses for deliveries. The victim managed to get to his feet, but Hughes then said “go get him” to the dog, named Dollar, which attacked Mr Riaz.
The dog, which belonged to his girlfriend’s family, bit the victim on his left ankle and Hughes struck him with the dog’s chain. Mr Riaz managed to remove the dog from his left ankle, but it then bit his right ankle, and Hughes proceeded to punch him and swing the chain at him.
The victim visited the Royal Liverpool hospital shortly after the incident. The defendant was interviewed and accepted there had been an argument but said Mr Riaz came at him first, and he just pushed him away in self defence.
In a victim personal statement read by the defence, Mr Riaz said he was already afraid of dogs before this incident and now even more so, and has been left with scars on his ankle. The dog was euthanized following the attack.
Hughes has five previous convictions for eight offences, but none of a violent nature. In 2022, he was handed a suspended sentence for two years for possession with intent to supply class A drugs, which he breached by committing this offence.
Kate Morley, defending, said since the incident, Hughes has completed all aspects of the suspended sentence, and now volunteers daily. She detailed that he has been diagnosed with ADHD, and is no longer in contact with peers who he knew when committing previous offences.
She said: “Though he continues to maintain his account, he does wholly acknowledge that his behaviour was unacceptable. “He is still a young man and in my submission, he is not a lost cause.”
Ms Morley detailed that Hughes is attempting to start his own business fixing bikes, and runs an Instagram account with 2,000 followers which he posts images of his work onto. In sentencing, Recorder Richard Conley said: “You took exception to the fact that he asked you to come to the gate due to coronavirus regulations.
“As a result of that you called him abusive names and in due course you attacked him and he fell against his bike. You then launched a physical attack upon him, and hit him with the dog chain.”
“For somebody who was already scared of dogs, this would have been a terrible ordeal and a painful one at that. It is completely unacceptable behaviour to attack a delivery driver and to set your dog on him.”
Hughes was sentenced to 36 weeks suspended for two years and was ordered to complete 45 rehabilitation activity days, 120 hours of unpaid work, and complete a thinking skills programme. He also has to pay £500 in compensation to Mr Riaz.
After sentencing, Recorder Conley said: “I must be mad for doing so and there are many judges in this building that would think I had gone mad. But I am doing this because I recognise that there are signs that you have turned a corner and I do not want to be the one to send you back to square one.”
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