Mastiff dog savages chimney sweep leaving her with horrific wounds

04 June 2024 , 07:34

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The court heard that Glyn Davies, 60, asked the sweep not to report the attack

An enormous mastiff dog launched a savage attack on a chimney sweep as she was working and left her with bleeding puncture wounds that were so large medics were unable to stitch them.

The dog, an "extremely large and powerful" Cane Corso named Hendrix, was being kept by its owner, Glyn Davies, 60, in his brother's kitchen while Katie Foster worked on a chimney in the front room.

But as he walked between the rooms, Davies failed to shut the kitchen door behind him, allowing Hendrix to charge into the room where Ms Foster worked. The animal escaped and sank its teeth into the chimney sweep's arms and legs.

Prosecutors at a trial deciding the dog's fate told how she was left in "unbearable" pain with bleeding puncture wounds.. Lisa Bowles told Winchester Crown Court Ms Foster was bitten on both of her arms and left with wounds too large to be mended by stitches.

A judge at Winchester Crown Court ordered the dog be destroyed

Davies pleaded with her not to take action over the 2023 attack, fearing the disclosure would see the dog destroyed. Ms Bowles said the owner asked her: "Please don't report my dog, it will be put down."

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The sweep was left with both physical and mental trauma, saying in a victim impact statement that when she works in one of the "dozens of houses" in which her customers have dogs. She said: "Now I feel afraid when I hear a dog behind a front door."

Mitigating, James Meredith said Davies, from Basingstoke, Hampshire, did not "constitute a bad dog owner", as the incident resulted from a momentary lapse of attention. He said Hendrix had a "good temperament" and was "loving" with family members.

Davies admitted to one charge of being a person in charge of a dog dangerously out of control causing injury and was handed a suspended jail sentence. He was seen bowing his head in court as the dog - which has been kept in a kennel since it was seized in March 2023 - was ordered to be destroyed. The judge also ruled Ms Foster be awarded £500 in compensation.

Liam Doyle