A four-year-old boy was left with serious damage to his face after being mauled by a dog when going into a friend's house to use the toilet.
Little Leon Lawlor was left covered in blood and needed surgery at the Royal Stoke University Hospital after the animal had bitten around his mouth and eye.
Owner David Thorley, 30, had allowed Leon to use the downstairs toilet at his Meir home in Staffordshire – but lurcher Duke, who was inside the property, attacked him at around 7pm on August 1, 2020.
Leon, who lived on Henderson Grove, suffered 'significant' facial injuries to his eye and mouth and was taken to the hospital for stitches to his right eyelid and mouth.
Staffordshire Police assessed the dog the next day and the officer had no concerns about the animal's behaviour. Duke has had several owners since and his current whereabouts are not known.
In his police interview, Thorley – who now lives in Lilac Grove, Blurton – said Duke had never been a problem before and he had no reason to suspect that anything would happen. Thorley added that he immediately took steps to move him out of the area.
Steve Hennessy, mitigating, said the defendant has expressed appropriate levels of regret and remorse. The dad-of-three is a ground maintenance worker and his partner is expecting another baby in August.
Mr Hennessy said: "He has always accepted the dog has caused the injury. He was immediately remorseful to the parents of the child and the dog was immediately removed from the area so they did not have to see it again."
Now Thorley has been handed a six-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to pay the victim £250 in compensation after he admitted to being the owner of a dog that caused injury while dangerously out of control at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.
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The suspended sentence includes a five-day rehabilitation activity requirement and 60 hours unpaid work.
Prosecutor Alexander Barnfield said: "The child was shown the downstairs toilet in the utility room. The utility room door was pushed ajar.
"The defendant's lurcher, Duke, which Thorley had owned for five years, had been around the child several times before. The child's mother disagrees with that and suggests the dog had always been shut away when the child was there.
"The child was in the utility room and getting ready to use the toilet when the dog attacked him and bit his face. Thorley heard the disturbance and distress and intervened and took the child to his parents' house immediately."
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Judge Graeme Smith, sentencing, said: "The four-year-old son of a neighbour was attacked by your dog Duke. He did suffer significant and serious injury. He required treatment in hospital.
"It is clear that this was very much out of character for Duke. There is no suggestion of any previous incidents and when assessed by the police there was no particular cause for concern.
"Your culpability was to allow the child to be in a confined area with Duke without proper supervision."
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