Terrier was “out of control”

A terrier which attacked an 85-year-old man in Bodmin, Cornwall, was given a death sentence in 2008. Walter Williams was savaged by the Staffordshire bull terrier as he walked along the street, suffering severe injuries to his hand and arm.

The owner of the terrier, 30-year-old Gavin Reed, was sentenced to 80 hours of community service after admitting his dog, ‘Bruiser’, was “dangerously out of control,” to Truro Crown Court (BBC News, 2008).

Mr Williams also won £500 compensation from Mr Reed. Judge Christopher Elwen said “Such incidents are a matter of very grave public concern – it might have been a child.”

“We might have had a fatality on our hands,” Judge Elwen said (BBC News, 2009).