A COUPLE have been jailed after a Japanese fighting dog bought for £150 online left a toddler scarred for life.
Kayleigh Godbert, 39, and Thomas Moir, 38, housed the dangerous Akita dog – historically used for hunting bears – before it savaged the child’s face.
The toddler was left with “truly breathtaking”; facial injuries from the attack by the powerful dog, a court heard.
Judge Simon Mills said the child was “lucky”; to be alive and described one of the kid’s lacerations as “absolutely awful”;.
Prosecutor Emmalyne Downing said Godbert had bought the Akita dog from a Pets4Homes website for £150 before bringing it into their home.
The couple had already been warned over their mut’s behaviour, after it attacked someone nearer their home.
The couple failed to protect the child in this instance.
Miss Downing said a woman had warned Moir: “That dog could have ripped them to bits”;.
She urged Moir to “get rid of the dog because it could not be trusted”;.
But the couple ignored the warnings – and the dog struck months later to savage the toddler.
A paramedic found the child – who cannot be named – had a deep cut to the head and a facial injury.
Thankfully, the tot was taken to hospital – but they will be scarred for life.
An expert who has seen the child said the appearance of the scars “is getting worse with time,”; according to the judge.
The dog called Nuqe bit the poor youngster at least six times.
Moir had been drinking for 18 hours and was asleep at the time of the attack in Flintshire, North Wales.
Duncan Bould, for Godbert, said she had tried to have the dog rehomed after that first incident and that she believed it should have been put down.
Alexandra Carrier, defending Moir, said her client had taken steps to rehome the dog but there had been a “failure to see them through.”;
“It was not a failure to act altogether,”; she added.
The dog had been “utterly beyond”; the defendants’ ability to control it, he added.
The judge described the injuries as “truly breathtaking”; and said that the dog should have been euthanised before that attack.
He said the first attack had been a “clear warning that the dog posed a risk”;.
Speaking to the pair, he said: “I accept you had taken some steps to rehome it or muzzle it.
“But the dog can’t have been muzzled because it caused the injuries it did.
“It bit six times.
“The injuries suffered in what appears to have been an unrestrained dog attack were frightening.
“Although the doctors have done a good job in repairing those injuries, the child still, to this day, carries the scars.”;
The dangerous dog has in fact been put down since then, but that factor “pales into insignificance in comparison to what it did.”;
He said: “This incident could and should have been foreseen.”;
Godbert and Moir were both jailed for 18 months after they admitted owning or being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control which caused injury.
Jailing the pair at Mold Crown Court, he also disqualified them from keeping or owning a dog for seven years.
Detective Constable James Grimwood said: “This was a horrific incident and has sadly resulted in serious and lasting injuries to a vulnerable child.
“Both Moir and Godbert have shown little remorse throughout this investigation despite the lifelong consequences their actions have had on a young child.
“The court outcome reflects the seriousness of this incident, and I hope that this sends a message to any dog owners to ensure that they do not leave dogs alone with children.”;
ends
