Woman facing jail after her bulldog bit postman

Brudenell Road, Leeds

A woman from Leeds could be sent to prison after her dog attacked two people, including a postman on his rounds.

Katie Craig, 32, of Holdforth Gardens, Wortley, appeared before Leeds Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, having previously pleaded guilty to being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control.

In May last year Enzo, an XS bulldog, bit two men in the Hyde Park area in separate incidents.

Both victims suffered wounds, and one said in an impact statement that "the fear of dogs has now become destructive to my life".

Unable to walk

The starting sentence for the offence is 18 months in custody.

The first incident took place on 8 May on Brudenell Road. The court heard the victim, Mohammad Rauf, was walking home from a mosque when he was attacked and bitten on his knee.

He said he now suffered pain when kneeling and praying, and had developed a fear of dogs. He was left unable to walk for two weeks.

He told the court: "I have stopped attending Friday prayers, which has been very upsetting for me as they are an important part of my faith. My social life has also been heavily reduced."

'Still aggressive'

Police gave Craig a verbal warning about keeping the dog under control following the incident.

But just days later, on 20 May, Enzo attacked a postal worker as he was out delivering mail in Hyde Park.

Phillip Luxford suffered "multiple puncture wounds" in the mauling, the court heard.

He walked with a limp "for quite some time" following the incident and described being in "constant pain" from his injuries.

The court heard the dog had continued to behave aggressively in the kennels where it was now kept.

The cost of keeping it in the care of West Yorkshire Police had now risen to more than £8,000, magistrates were told.

According to a probation officer, Craig had owned the dog for just three weeks.

She had been given it by the family member of a former partner and had been walking it on a "makeshift lead".

Defending, Khalid Wahid told the court neither incident was "deliberate or wilful" on his client's part and she had tried to stop her dog from attacking both men.

Mr Wahid said Craig "took the dog under her wing" after she saw "how badly the dog was being treated by his owners".

She had tried to train the dog "to the best of her abilities", he added.

"Unfortunately it was proving too much."

Anne Macklevey, who chaired the hearing, said the second incident "aggravated" the first offence.

Craig, who has a previous conviction for violence and has previously served time in jail, will be sentenced at Leeds Crown Court on 13 August.

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