Judge orders destruction of dog and jails Brighouse man over street attack

A Brighouse man has been jailed after his dog attacked someone for a third time

Bradford Crown Court heard today (Tuesday) the animal, called Bertie, should have been muzzled in public after biting a woman on the calf back in March 2016, but 62-year-old John Sykes had ignored the order while he was out walking the dog on a lead last April.

A month before, in March 2018, the dog had attacked for a second time when it bit a teenage girl on the leg while she was at a house.

MORE CRIME: Vulnerable pensioner, 93, victim of callous burglary in his Calderdale home

The court heard that during the early evening of April 8 last year 52-year-old Robert Moore had been walking along Bowling Alley Terrace when the dog, which belonged to Sykes’ partner, growled at him before biting him on both legs.

One bite resulted in three puncture wounds to his right calf which were so deep that tissue was left hanging out of the open wounds.

Judge Jonathan Rose noted that the risk of infection meant that the appropriate stitching of the wounds could not be carried out by medical staff.

MORE CRIME: Extra night patrols in Calderdale as police launch knife crime crackdown

Mr Moore was unable to work for a week after the attack and the injuries also stopped him playing football and golf.

Sykes, of Scholey Road, Brighouse, admitted having a dog dangerously out of control in a public place and today he was jailed for 16 months.

Prosecutor Martin Robertshaw said Sykes later indicated that he hated putting the muzzle on the dog and suggested that he only thought it needed muzzling if it wasn’t on a lead.

“It is often said Mr Sykes that there are no bad dogs only bad owners,” said Judge Rose.

“This court concludes in your case that you are a bad owner. Bad in the sense of your inability to exercise sufficient control over a dog that I find to be dangerous because this is, as has been fairly and properly pointed out by the prosecution, the third time on which this dog has bitten.”

MORE CRIME: The criminal faces put behind bars in February for their Calderdale crimes

The judge said he did not accept that Sykes was unaware of the need for the dog to be muzzled in a public.

Judge Rose said he had no doubt that the dog was a danger to the public and he made the destruction order with “regret and reluctance”.

Sykes was also banned from owning a dog for the next 10 years.

Keep up-to-date with all the latest news and breaking incidents in Halifax - join our dedicated Facebook group here.