Girl, 12, left with horrific accidents after being mauled by XL Bully that her father needed to wrestle her free from – as hound’s proprietor ‘watched on unbothered’

An XL bully caused ‘horrific’ injuries to a girl and as she ran towards the hound’s owner for help, he appeared not ‘bothered’, a court has heard. 

Justin Allison’s pet Rocco ran towards the youngster, 12, before sinking its teeth into her arm – leaving the bone and tendon exposed. 

The 37-year-old, from Blaenau Gwent, has admitted criminal offences following the dog attack in Nantyglo. 

Prosecutor Lisa Lewis told Newport Magistrates’ Court that the girl had been walking with her dad on October 7 when they heard shouting behind them. 

‘She saw a dog running very fast towards her and it reached her in seconds. As it got closer it began growling at her and she felt very scared and turned to run to her dad,’ Ms Lewis said. 

The off-the-lead dog, Rocco, jumped on the girl’s back and as she covered her head it latched onto her arm. 

The prosecutor said: ‘It was on her arm for a matter of seconds.

‘The next thing she could remember was her dad on top of the dog, wrestling it.

‘She has then walked into the middle of the road to shout for help. The dog owner has then appeared. She said he walked over but didn’t come close and wouldn’t do anything.

‘She described him as not being bothered to help her dad while she was shouting in the middle of the road. She managed to push her dad in the direction of the owner and he managed to put a lead on the dog.’

The owner, Allison told the girl and her dad that if anyone wanted him he would be at his home nearby. 

‘He did not offer any assistance at all,’ the prosecutor continued. 

‘The girl’s mam arrived and had a go at the defendant asking why there was no muzzle on the dog. The dog then tried to go for her mam but thankfully the defendant told the mam to go away and pulled the dog back.’

The girl was taken to the Grange Hospital where she underwent surgery to repair tendons in her arm. 

Ms Lewis said pictures showed a ‘horrific’ arm injury where bone was exposed. The girl also suffered nasty cuts to her back. 

The court heard the girl was healing well physically but the psychological impact was not yet clear. Her dad was not hurt.

It is illegal to own an XL Bully, which is a prohibited breed in Wales and England, unless you have an exemption certificate.

The ban was introduced in February after a spate of savage attacks in recent years. 

Since February 1, it has been a criminal offence to own or possess an XL Bully dog in England and Wales unless you have a valid Certificate of Exemption. It is also an offence to sell an XL Bully dog, abandon an XL Bully dog or give away or breed them.

Allison, of Lilian Grove in Ebbw Vale, admitted being in charge of a dog that was dangerously out of control causing injury, possessing a dangerous dog, and possessing an offensive weapon in a private place. 

He will be sentenced for those charges in January but the magistrates did impose a sentence over an incident in which Allison was caught drug-driving in Brynmawr.

Ms Lewis said a PC Morgan was on duty at Lakeside retail park on May 24 when he saw Allison driving a black Audi A4 at speed into the car park. 

Allison and another man walked from the vehicle into Asda while the officer entered the vehicle’s number plate on the police national computer and learned the car did not have third party insurance.

PC Morgan went into the Asda and noticed Allison was ‘sweaty and pale with dilated pupils’. 

A test revealed he had 240 micrograms of the cocaine metabolite benzoylecgonine per litre of blood. The legal limit for driving is 50 micrograms. He pleaded guilty to drug-driving with no licence or insurance.

Allison was last convicted of an offence in 2019 and his only related conviction was from 2008 when he was caught drink-driving. 

His solicitor Patrick Meadows said Allison did not realise his licence had expired and had only bought the car a few days earlier for £800. 

It has since been destroyed by police. He added that his client had taken cocaine the night before he drove to Asda but not that day.

The defendant, who is single and unemployed, has depression and anxiety. He lives with his grandparents and receives £248 per fortnight in benefits. 

The magistrates took into account his early guilty plea, his low means and his previous convictions. 

They banned him from driving for 16 months and imposed a £120 fine, £48 victim services surcharge and £85 in prosecution costs which Allison is to pay at a rate of £20 pounds a month.