Ban for dog owner after attack on boy, 12

The schoolboy was left physically and mentally scarred after the dog turned on him in a park.

A court has now ordered that the dog, described as a 'loving family pet', be destroyed and its owner Kelly Farrell pay out £1,500 compensation.

The attack happened when the youngster was walking the dog, named Diesel, with two others in Smethwick on November 3 last year. A passer-by who came to his rescue was also bitten by the dog, Sandwell Magistrates' Court heard.

The boy was left with two golf-ball sized wounds to his left arm. He had to undergo extensive surgery to have two metal rods inserted into his lower arm and was in hospital for three days.

He is now unable to properly move his left thumb and will require further surgery when he is older.

At an earlier hearing Farrell of Melbury Lane, Northampton pleaded guilty to being the owner of a dog dangerously out of control that caused injury to another person.

Mr Mark Cooper, prosecuting, said that leading up to the attack the dog had not acted aggressively, but when they arrived at Londonderry Park's children's play area the dog's nature suddenly changed. The court was told that Tom Willets, a passer-by, saw the boy punching the dog to try to get it off and went to his rescue. "The boy's family say he has been mentally scarred and has been having nightmares," said Mr Cooper. The court also heard that police had started to assess the dog, but could not complete the tests due to the dog's level of aggression and recommended the dog be destroyed.

Mrs Dawn Foxall, defending, said: "Mrs Farrell admits she had made a fatal mistake and an error of judgement letting the children take the dog for a walk that day."

Farrell, 36, was ordered to pay £1,500 compensation to the boy's family, complete 120 hours of unpaid work in the community over the next 12 months and was banned from owning or looking after any dog for the next three years. The dog was ordered to be destroyed.