A 45-year-old man in Nottingham, U.K., has been handed a suspended sentence and banned from owning dogs after his Tibetan Mastiffs attacked a neighbor and a police officer.
The attacks happened on separate occasions last year, 2023. A Nottingham Crown Court judge also ordered the man — identified as Colin Wilson — to pay the injured neighbor £500 in compensation.
Mastiff attack leaves 63-year-old woman and police officer with injuries
During Wilson’s sentencing hearing, the court heard that on Feb. 28, one of his Tibetan Mastiffs attacked a 63-year-old neighbor who was returning home from work. While addressing Wilson, Judge Julie Warburton shared: “Your dog had escaped from your garden and latched onto this woman’s leg.”
According to The Nottingham Post, the dog held onto the woman’s leg for about a minute. As a result, she sustained a major leg injury that required “specialized treatment.” Moreover, the attack left the woman too traumatized to walk outside. She even contemplated leaving her job.
A few months later, Wilson’s second Tibetan Mastiff attacked another neighbor. For this reason, police officers went to Wilson’s home to investigate the attack.
When they arrived, the dog was in the garden, barking aggressively. The officers requested Wilson to take the dog inside the house, which he did. As one officer walked around the house, the dog launched at him from behind, grabbing hold of his testicles.
Recalling the horrific incident, the officer said the unbearable pain made him feel “like he was going to throw up.”
While reading out his sentence, Judge Warburton told Wilson: “I do not consider you to be a fit and proper person to keep a dog which causes a risk to others, and so I am disqualifying you from keeping a dog for the next four years.”
The judge also explained how dangerous it was for Wilson to leave his unleashed dogs outside. She stated: “When dogs of this size and strength are left to their own devices they have the capacity to cause very serious injury if not worse.”
