The son of a Scots grandad who had his thumb ripped off by a satan canine has hit out at Police Scotland and prosecutors for his or her lack of motion after the assault. The American Bulldog, named Pablo, mauled the 72-year-old pensioner as he tried to guard his personal pet canine in Blackburn, West Lothian, in July 2021.
He was rushed to hospital with extreme accidents to his hand – which included damaged bones and the severed digit – in addition to chew marks on his face and legs. The animal’s proprietor, Laura McEwan, 42, appeared at Livingston Sheriff Court on Tuesday the place she admitted being chargeable for the canine, which was dangerously uncontrolled.
She confronted an almost an identical second cost after two youngsters had been injured and their pet canine killed in a separate incident involving the identical canine simply six months later. But after negotiations with prosecutors, her not responsible plea was accepted as she claimed she was not the proprietor of the canine on the time of the second assault in January 2022.
The pensioner’s son, David Jones, instructed the Daily Record how the household warned police the beast would assault once more however had been initially instructed to report it to the native canine warden. He mentioned: “My dad has been like a special particular person since this occurred.
“As a household, we’re now trying to transfer on from this however my father has been left scared and disfigured from his assault. We really feel let down by the failure of the authorities concerned on this case and hope they may study from the errors they made.
“If the police and courts had handled my dad’s assault correctly to begin with, one other household wouldn’t be struggling the lack of their household canine or have had their two youngsters damage. I warned them that it might occur to a toddler if nothing was achieved however they didn’t hear.
“They simply stored saying it wasn’t a prison matter and was a problem for the canine warden. After we stored pushing, they lastly reported it to the Crown Office who then dropped the case resulting from a scarcity of proof.
“The police told me something else would have to happen before they looked into it again and sure enough, it did. And now this other family is still suffering and they get no justice because her not guilty plea was accepted. It’s just not right.”
The Record beforehand instructed how David retrieved his dad’s severed thumb from a grassy space on the scene of the assault however medics at St John’s Hospital had been unable to reattach it.
He mentioned his father was “traumatised” by the incident and was left unable to write down resulting from being left handed.
Earlier this week, the court docket heard how McEwan desperately ordered Pablo to cease attacking the pensioner, who was cradling his pet Lhasa Apso Domino in his arms.
But the satan canine ignored her instructions and continued to maul the OAP whereas he pet was additionally injured.
The prosecution additionally alleged that the identical canine was dangerously uncontrolled at a area close to Blackburn Hall Gardens round six months later.
The cost said that the canine – and not using a lead or muzzle – ran in the direction of a three-year-old boy and repeatedly bit him on the physique to his harm.
The animal then allegedly attacked a Yorkshire Terrier referred to as Mini, bit it repeatedly on the physique and inflicted deadly accidents on it, failing to desist when she commanded it to take action.
The American Bulldog was then mentioned to have attacked the toddler’s 10-year-old brother and repeatedly bit him on the physique to his harm.
McEwan denied the cost and intimated a particular defence of incrimination, claiming the canine was not in her possession when the second assault passed off.
The court docket ordered that the canine, which has been in kennels because the second assault, ought to be destroyed.
Sheriff Peter Hammond known as for a prison Justice social work report and an evaluation of McEwan’s suitability for a restriction of liberty order. She shall be sentenced at a later date.
A spokesperson for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service mentioned: “It would be inappropriate to comment on a live matter that is still before the court.”
Police Scotland have been contacted for remark.
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