Plumber, 65, whose pet Rottweiler mauled a mother, her two children aged seven and nine and a passerby is spared jail – and the dog will not be put down as long as she behaves in future
- Richard Holmes, 65, was taking his 18-month-old Rottweiler for a walk in a park
- Della, the dog, turned on Rebecca Lyth and her two children, seven and nine
- Dog will have to wear a muzzle in public but will not be put down if she behaves
A former plumber whose pet Rottweiler savagely mauled a mother, her two young children and a passerby has been spared jail.
Richard Holmes, 65, was taking his 18-month-old Rottweiler Della for a walk through Luton Park in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, on August 30 last year, when it turned on mother Rebecca Lyth, her nine-year-old daughter and her seven-year-old son.
During the attack, Della ‘circled’ the family – who had been walking their small French bulldogs together – before lunging at them, inflicting puncture wounds to their legs and buttocks. Passerby Christopher Terry was also injured as he tried to intervene.
At Chester Magistrates’ Court, Holmes pleaded guilty to four charges of being the owner of a dog dangerously out of control causing injury. He was sentenced to eight weeks in prison – suspended for 12 months – while he was ordered to pay £1,100 in damages.
The dog, meanwhile, was made the subject of a contingent destruction order which means she will be spared from being put down as long as she behaves in future. Holmes was ordered to fix a chain on his front door and a padlock on his back gate to ensure Della does not get out of the house unaccompanied.
Richard Holmes, pictured outside Chester Magistrates Court, has been spared jail after his Rottweiler mauled a mother, her two children and a passerby
18-month-old Rottweiler Della circled the family in Luton Park (pictured), Cheshire, and left them with puncture wounds in their legs and buttocks
The cause of the attack, which began at 2.45pm, remains unknown but Holmes claimed Della may have been ‘nipped’ by one of the French bulldogs before the attack. He also said she had been attacked herself by another dog two weeks prior to the incident.
Four police officers who arrived at the scene had to help the casualties over a set of railings to get them away from the dog’s reach as Holmes battled to bring his Rottweiler under control.
The two children were said to be ‘very distressed.’ All four victims had their bite wounds cleaned and dressed and were given antibiotics.
Holmes was ordered to pay £400 in compensation to both children, £200 to their mother Ms Lyth, and £100 to passerby Mr Terry.
Although Della has been spared from being put down, she will have to wear a muzzle in public and must be on a non-extendable lead no longer than 1.5m. The dog has also been banned from being in the same room as a child without a muzzle and she and her owner must attend three sessions with a dog behaviourist.
Three officers – who found the victims cowering in terror as Della circled, lunged and bit them – deployed their batons whilst a fourth stood between the dog and the family as Holmes attempting to regain control.
Miss Lyth – who was seen holding one of her two small dogs – was eventually helped over railings into a secure children’s play area with her children whilst Holmes finally got the animal back on a lead.
Alan Currums, prosecuting, said: ‘Even after the police arrived, the defendant was unable to gain control of the dog. The Crown accepts that he is trying to gain control of the dog but getting nowhere. The dog appears to be lunging at the complainants throughout.
Former plumber Holmes was ordered to pay £1,100 in damages after pleading guilty to four charges of being the owner of a dog dangerously out of control causing injury
‘Police do take some time to try and remove some of the witnesses from the incident itself. One of the children was extremely upset. The police officer removed that child to the place of safety but while he is doing that, the dog was looking for the victim.
‘The dog was substantially out of control. The only way the defendant was able to bring the dog under control was when the witnesses were removed from the scene. Only then was he able to gain control.’
In mitigation for Holmes defence lawyer Stephen Langton said: ‘His recollection is that one of the complainant’s dogs went towards his dog and his dog then reacted. He thinks it was nipped but is not entirely certain. However he is absolutely clear that he accepts responsibility, that he lost control of the dog regardless of whether the dog was nipped or not.
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Mr Langton added that Holmes has walked his dog three times a day for 18 months without an incident. ‘He is probably searching for reasons why the dog has reacted in the way it did,’ he said. ‘He is probably making an assumption that the dog has been nipped. She was attacked two weeks previously and had shown no aggression since that date.’
‘He walked the dog again every day for two weeks, without incident, in the same park, the same route and on this occasion it has reacted. I would suggest he could not have envisaged this scenario. He accepts that it was a horrendous experience for this family.
‘He has had dogs all his life. He has never had any issues. He has no real close family members, some nieces visit occasionally. Della means everything to him. He understands that if this dog comes to court again for any misbehaviour, the dog will be euthanized.’
A probation report said: ‘Mr Holmes has shown much remorse and is able to identify specifically with the victims, the impact on the victims, how he may have prevented the incident from happening and how he may have prevented it from coming before the courts.’
Sentencing deputy district judge Mary Dowrick said: ‘A dog owner walking their dog off the lead needs to be alert to situations – especially in a situation where there has been an incident with another dog a couple of weeks before that. It was a very serious aggravating factor that two of the victims were children and it was aggravated by the prolonged nature of the attack.
‘The incident went on for quite a long time, lasting from anywhere between 10 to 20 minutes. It might not sound like a long time but when repeatedly lunged at and bitten, it is a tremendous amount of time to have gone through that horrific ordeal.
‘There was not just one victim, there were four and two of them were children. But I have been helped by the canine expert report and numerous letters that have been written by your neighbours and people in the community.
‘The letters talk about your experience with dogs and how your dog normally behaves in public. It is clear from the report that you have been a dog owner for a number of years and that this is the first time that kind of incident has occurred.’
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