Mum screamed as 'XL Bully' bit through son's skull during horror attack

13 May 2024 , 21:12

863     0

Lewis Young admitted being the owner of a dog which caused injury while out of control in a public place (Image: PA)

A court has been told of the horrifying moment a mum screamed "an XL bully has got my boy" as the dog bit through her eight-year-old's skull.

The dogs owners, a mother and son, were both jailed Amanda and Lewis Young at Liverpool Crown Court after the court heard how the schoolboy screamed "help me, help" as he had his scalp ripped off, leaving his mum fearing he was going to die. The animal, called Snoop, “had substantial characteristics of an XL bully type" and was "therefore a banned breed," the Liverpool Echo reports.

He had been allowed to roam free in the communal area of a block of flats without a muzzle or harness, where it attacked the child. Charlotte Kenny, prosecuting, outlined how 30-year-old Lewis Young was the owner, while his 49-year-old mum Amanda had been left in charge while he attended work as a self-employed delivery driver, the Liverpool Echo reports.

Merseyside Police began to receive 999 calls concerning the attack at around 5pm. Officers attending the scene found members of the public had managed to intervene and restrain the dog. One resident, Anthony Atkinson, described hearing screaming outside his address and opened his balcony doors to hear a woman shouting: "An XL bully has got my boy."

Another man, Callum Smith, said he had heard the boy shouting "help me, help me" and described Snoop as "frothing at the mouth". Lewis Young then arrived home with a harness, having received a call from his co-defendant, after which he led the dog towards towards attendant PCs. He told officers he had owned Snoop for around two to three months after responding to an advertisement he had seen posted on Facebook.

Man fined £165 after outraging the internet by dying puppy to look like Pikachu

Amanda Young pleaded guilty to being in charge of a dog which caused injury while out of control in a public place (PA)

Young also said he was "not sure" if he was an XL bully and had not applied to have him registered as per new legislation introduced at the turn of the year. When interviewed, he told detectives he had been planning to have a DNA test in order to establish whether Snoop - who has since been destroyed - was an XL bully, but did not have the money to do so and believed he may have been an American bulldog.

The dog was previously said to have had a cloth muzzle and collar, but had eaten both. Young added his mum was a cocaine user and "was probably under the influence of it" at the time of the attack, and said he had "no idea the dog was capable of causing serious injury". The child was taken to Alder Hey Children's Hospital, having sustained "extensive injuries" to his face and hands.

This included a "degloving" of the scalp and a fracture to the skull, where it had been penetrated by one of the dog's teeth.He has since undergone several surgeries, including an initial 10 hours on the operating table as doctors unsuccessfully attempted to reattach his scalp, and spent more than two months in hospital as an inpatient while undergoing skin grafts

Lewis Young admitted being the owner of a dog which caused injury while out of control in a public place. He was jailed for two years. Amanda Young pleaded guilty to being in charge of a dog which caused injury while out of control in a public place. She was locked up for 20 months. Both were banned from owning dogs for life. Sentencing, Andrew Menary KC said: "The circumstances of the attack are truly awful. The nature of the injuries caused to the young victim were catastrophic and, on any view, life changing

Turning to Lewis Young, the judge added: "You really knew nothing about the dog before you took ownership of it. Despite lots of publicity at the time about concerns over attacks by XL bully type dogs and the ban on new ownership of such dogs, you did nothing to check the breed of the dog.

"You, Amanda Young, agreed to look after the dog even though you were wholly incapable of looking after or controlling this animal. The evidence is that the dog had free reign to roam the public parts of the block. This little boy has had multiple surgeries. He will be left with extensive facial and head scarring and profound psychological trauma. The injuries are just dreadful."

Adam Everett