Schoolboy pinned to the ground by ‘pitbull-style’ canine in crazed park assault

Horrifying footage showed the moment a schoolboy was pinned to the ground by a large dog despite the efforts of its owner to rein the hound in. Abdul Waheed Akhtar, 14, was left with blood pouring from puncture wounds to his arm before he went to hospital for surgery. His dad, Nadeem Akhtar, 45, said Abdul was with relatives when two people started throwing a stick for the dog near Park Lodge, Bolton.

Abdul was dragged to the floor when the stick was thrown towards him and his family. Luckily, one of the dog’s owners managed to pull the dog off Abdul before he sustained further injuries, The Sun reported.

His dad told the news outlet: “The other kids were crying, there was blood everywhere. It was awful, my son was shaking with fear because he had to fight with the dog. He had an operation on Wednesday, he’s still in the hospital. But he doesn’t sleep, he doesn’t want to go outside. He’s just crying all the time. When he sees me and his mum, he’s just crying all the time.”

The concerned dad added his young lad had been “really affected” by the incident, adding he just wants to stay in the house and doesn’t want to go to school. The young boy also regularly bursts into tears since the attack, his dad said. Doctors want to keep him under supervision for the rest of this week.

At the time of the incident, Abdul was with his cousins and enjoying the autumn weather in the park. Nadeem, a taxi driver, said he was at work at the time.

He said: “I was working at the time, I’m a taxi driver. My son was playing in the park with his cousins. There were three or four lads. They said they were just standing in the park and the couple came with the dog, and they were throwing a stick to the dog, it was running around and grabbing that. Then they threw the stick, a long stick, towards them. The dog ran towards them and his friends ran off.

“The dog grabbed him in the back and he fell on the floor, and the dog jumped on him. It was biting everywhere, but the main injuries were to his arms.”

Nadeem added he was worried about safety for other children in the park. “A lot of kids play in that park, so I’m worried it could happen again… I don’t want other people’s kids to be shaking and crying after being attacked.”

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said an investigation is ongoing and Abdul had been spoken to in order to find out what happened.

A GMP spokesperson said: “There is an active investigation ongoing and work is being undertook to locate the dog and its owner/s. “The incident happened at 3.50pm on Monday 28 October 2024 on Park Lodge, Bolton We attended the hospital and took a statement from the victim the same day the incident took place and an officer has been assigned the case and is working through it.”

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