Man jailed after his out-of-control XL bully dog 'bit chunks' out of woman's face

The owner of an XL bully has been jailed after he allowed his dog to attack his partner and rip chunks of flesh from her face.

Kevin Griffiths' partner had to undergo plastic surgery to graft skin from her back into her cheek following the incident and has been left permanently scarred.

Swansea Crown Court heard that Reggie the XL bully had bitten the woman just a matter of weeks before the police had advised the owner to take it to a vet to have it put down.

Instead, Griffiths kept the large animal shut in the bathroom of this flat.

Sending Griffiths to prison, the judge told him that dog owners have a duty to keep their animals under proper control and are safe and he said the defendant had "been in charge of what was, effectively, a dangerous weapon" when he allowed it to attack the woman.

The judge ordered the dog to be destroyed.

Caitlyn Brazel, prosecuting, said on the evening of 10 May this year Griffiths was at home with his partner when he said he was going to take his dog for a walk.

She said the defendant's partner was frightened of the animal as it had bitten her the previous month and so she retreated to the bedroom for safety.

Following that earlier incident, Griffiths had rung the police asking them to take the dog away but they said given the minor nature of the incident they couldn't seize the dog and they advised the defendant to contact a vet who would deal with it.

The court heard Griffiths retrieved the dog from the bathroom where the animal was kept and then proceeded to bang on the bedroom door wanting to be let in saying the dog was "all right."

The prosecutor said Griffiths kept banging on and pushing the bedroom door which served to "wind up" the dog and in the words of the partner the animal was going "berserk" in the hallway.

Griffiths eventually managed to push the bedroom door open and the dog initially appeared calm but then it suddenly leapt up at the woman and sank its teeth into her face.

Griffiths tried to get the animal to loosen its grip and Reggie then started biting the woman's arms.

The court heard the 44-year-old defendant was eventually able to get the dog back into the bathroom and the woman grabbed a tea towel which she held to the wound on her face as she ran from the flat.

The police were called and they found the victim crying in the car park outside the property.

The court then heard that the casualty was taken to Morriston Hospital by her father and subsequently had to undergo plastic surgery to remove some skin from her back and graft it onto her face.

The woman faces the likelihood of further surgery in the future and has been told that the scar on her face will be permanent.

In an impact statement that was read to the court, the victim said she had been left too scared to leave the house in case she came across another dog and she said she was suffering with depression, mood swings, and flashbacks and was seeking counselling.

She added: "I am not coping well."

Griffiths, of Frondeg Terrace, Llanelli, had previously pleaded guilty to being the owner of a dog dangerously out of control which caused injury when he appeared in the dock for sentencing.

Matt Murphy, for Griffiths, said though the breed of dog in question had been heavily featured in the press in recent times and had come to the attention of national politicians that was not the case at the time of the incident.

He said the dog had been gifted to the defendant as a pet and was not a "trophy" or "weaponised" animal.

The advocate said Griffiths "is not a man without his own difficulties" and he said the fact was the defendant was simply not able to control the dog properly.

Recorder Mark Powell KC said people who own dogs have a duty to take proper care of them and to ensure they are safe.

He said it was often said that "there is no such thing as a bad dog, just a bad owner" and he said in this case Griffiths had no business keeping a large animal like the XL bully cooped up in a bathroom.

The judge told the defendant he knew full well that he could not control Reggie and knew the dog had previously bitten his partner and he said: "You were in charge of what was, effectively, a dangerous weapon."

Recorder Powell added that the dog proceeded to "bite chunks" out Griffiths' partner's face leaving her with a permanent scar and that was something the defendant would always have on his conscience.

With a one-third discount for his guilty plea, Griffiths was sentenced to 20 months in prison.

The defendant will serve up to half that sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.

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