- Amanda Young, 49, and son Lewis, 30, bought the XL bully off Facebook
A mother and son have been jailed after an XL Bully dog attacked an eight-year-old boy so ferociously the child’s scalp was left on the floor and his skull fractured.
Amanda Young, 49, and son Lewis, 30, were keeping the dog in the small, rented flat they shared at the time of the attack in February this year.
Lewis Young, a delivery driver, bought the dog from a Facebook advert but failed to check whether it was a banned breed after new legislation came in at the beginning of the year.
He left the dog, called Snoop, in his mother’s charge but she allowed it to wander around outside the flat she owned in Bootle, Merseyside, while she sat drinking.
On the day of the attack, several people reported the animal had jumped up at them and Amanda Young later admitted to police she had four or five large gin and tonics that afternoon.
Amanda Young, 49, (pictured) and son Lewis, 30, have been jailed after an XL Bully dog attacked an eight-year-old boy
Lewis Young (pictured), a delivery driver, bought the dog from a Facebook advert but failed to check whether it was a banned breed
Charlotte Kenny, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court the victim went to the flats to meet a friend to play football, when he was attacked on the landing.
The powerful dog grabbed him by the head and neck, violently shaking him.
Horrified neighbours valiantly tried to get the dog off the youngster as it ripped off his scalp.
One bite fractured and pierced his skull and doctors feared at first it could have pierced his brain.
Ms Kenny said: ‘The boy’s mother was heard screaming ‘an XL bully has got my boy!”
‘He was left with significant and life-changing juries. His scalp was left on the floor and, despite 10 hours of surgery, doctors were unable to able to re-attach it and he has had skin grafts instead.
‘The injuries are to his scalp, face and hands, and despite multiple operations, he will have permanent scarring. He is also seeing a psychologist.’
The court heard the dog was ‘frothing at the mouth’ as it struck.
Judge Menary said: ‘This little boy has had multiple surgeries to graft skin to his head. He will be left, on any view, with extensive facial and scalp scarring and profound psychological scarring.
‘The injuries are just dreadful.
‘The events of that day will no doubt haunt the memories of everyone who witnessed the savage and sustained attack by the dog you had decided to keep as a pet.’
Restrictions on XL bully dogs came into force at the end of last year requiring the animals to be kept on a lead and muzzled in public and from February 1, it has been a criminal offence to own an XL bully in England and Wales without a certificate. The attack happened on February 10.
Lewis Young told police he had owned a cloth muzzle but the dog – which he had owned for two or three months – had chewed through it so it could not be used.
In a statement, the victim’s mother, who was in court with relatives, said: ‘He is petrified when he sees a dog and will physically grab his dad’s or my hand.’
The court heard the youngster spent over two months in hospital and is unlikely to go back to school until after the summer holidays.
Local resident Anthony Atkinson told how he sat astride Snoop and tried to get it to release its grip.
The witness described Amanda Young, who appeared on the scene, as ‘not really helping the situation’.
Police said the mother, who had obviously been drinking, threatened to jump off her balcony.
On the day of the attack, several people reported the animal had jumped up at them (stock photo)
Judge Andrew Menary KC jailed Lewis Young for two years and his mother for 20 months at Liverpool Crown Court
Her son returned home and took control of the dog once it had released its grip on the boy.
Both mother and son – who admitted being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control and causing injury at an earlier hearing – told the court they were ‘devastated’.
Daniel Travers, for Lewis Young, said: ‘He will forever regret what happened.’
Martine Snowdon, for Amanda Young, said: ‘If going to prison can give the victim’s family some recompense she is willing to do that.’
Judge Andrew Menary KC, Recorder of Liverpool, jailed Lewis Young for two years and his mother for 20 months.
He told Amanda Young: ‘You were looking after this dog even though you knew you were incapable.
‘You just left the door open so it could roam the public parts of the block of flats where you lived.
‘By your own admission you had had a significant quantity of gin.’
Turning to Lewis Young, he said: ‘Every time you walked that dog since the beginning of the year without a muzzle, you were committing a crime.
‘You knew nothing about this dog and you didn’t not have sufficient funds to carry out the checks you needed to.’
The two were also banned from owning a dog indefinitely. Snoop has been destroyed.