Parents Aaron Newsome, 24, and Caitlin Powell, 20, claimed their 26-day-old son had been attacked by an unknown dog at a bus stop but the truth was he was bitten by their French Bulldog
A dad joked he “only needed to bring a one-legged sleep suit” for his baby boy after a vicious French Bulldog “bit off” the tot’s toes, a court heard.
Parents Aaron Newsome, 24, and Caitlin Powell, 20, claimed their 26-day-old son had been attacked by an unknown dog at a bus stop.
But medics at Ormskirk Hospital grew suspicious of their story and called the cops, who uncovered the couple’s lies when they searched Newsome’s phone.
In a message to Powell, Newsome wrote: “Stick to the story, you walked over the bridge by Lidl and it was the bus stop by the church.” He also joked that he “only needed to bring a one-legged sleep suit” for his son while he was in hospital, the Liverpool Echo reports.
The horror incident occurred on October 4, 2023, and the couple took their baby to hospital the next day, Liverpool Crown Court was told this week.
Mum Powell had “continued to insist the baby was bitten by a stranger’s dog”, but she eventually told police the French Bulldog, called Boss, “had jumped up and bitten the child while he was crying” and she had “panicked”. Newsome was not present at the time.
Powell was living with her dad Carl Powell, 47, in Southport along with five dogs at the time of the incident and he helped them try to cover up what happened.
The court heard he told authorities he’d received a call from his daughter “saying that his grandson’s toes had been bitten off”, and that he had taken them to hospital.
Text messages revealed Carl Powell claimed he had “thrown Boss in the river”, but in further messages he said “someone was going to have him”, and it was later discovered he had given the French Bulldog to a woman who had not been informed of the vicious attack.
The baby suffered injuries to his left toes which resulted in one toe being amputated. He remained in hospital for 12 days, and “appeared to be almost completely healed”.
All three defendants pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice. Caitlyn Powell, of Bootle, also pleaded guilty to being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control, causing injury.
Newsome had no previous convictions, while dad-of-nine Carl Powell had 24 convictions for several offences, including driving offences, possession of an offensive weapon, cannabis production, and court order breaches.
Sentencing Newsome and Carl Powell at Liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday, judge Gary Woodhall said:” I have no doubt that your actions were driven out of panic and shock and concern for your parenting positions.
“However your primary concerns should have been protecting this child – your son, your grandson – and ensuring the dog that had caused it didn’t pose a risk to the public.”
He said Carl Powell had acted “out of fear you would lose your daughter and that your grandson would be taken into social services”. Of Newsome, he said: “You say you panicked, you were scared of the response if you were deemed an unfit parent.
Judge Woodhall sentenced Newsome to 12 months in prison, suspended for 15 months, and Carl Powell to 15 months in prison, also suspended for 15 months.
He adjourned Caitlin Powell’s sentence to February 4 2026, and indicated she would likely receive a suspended prison term.
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