Liverpool woman sentenced after boy, 4, attacked by bully XL

Stacey Smith, left, seen arriving for her sentencing hearing earlier

A woman whose partner's American bully XL dog attacked a four-year old boy and left him with "catastrophic" injuries has been sentenced.

The boy suffered a fractured skull and a 10cm wound in the attack in Norris Green, Liverpool, in August last year.

The dog savaged the child after he wandered into a front garden asking to play with Stacey Smith's son.

The 32-year-old was handed a nine-month suspended jail sentence at Liverpool Crown Court.

A judge said it was lucky the boy had not been killed and praised neighbours who came to his aid.

Smith previously admitted being responsible for a dog which was dangerously out of control.

The court heard how the attack happened when she was at home looking after her partner's dog, named Nola, on 13 August 2022.

The dog had pushed past Smith as the boy went into the front garden, ran out of the door and attacked him, biting him on the face.

Neighbours ran to try to help the boy and struggled to get the dog to release him, with one neighbour grabbing its neck and another hitting it with a golf club, the court heard.

The boy was attacked in the Norris Green area of Liverpool

The boy's injuries were described as "catastrophic", including a fractured skull and extensive scarring, with the wound to his head requiring surgery.

In a statement read to the court, the boy's mother said she had been told by doctors her son could have been killed.

She said he is now bullied at school and called "scarface" by the other children, and that he missed half of his first year of reception "because he didn't want anyone to look at him".

She said: "He is just not the same child he used to be, both psychologically and physically. He cries out in his sleep, 'get the dog away from me'.

"No matter how much time we spend with him we can't take away the pain. Every time I close my eyes I can see the attack. I feel sick and wish it was me and not him.

"It has destroyed both of us emotionally as parents knowing how close we were to losing our child."

Smith's defence barrister Daniel Travers said she was "absolutely devastated" and "will forever live with the guilt" of what happened to the boy.

The government has pledged to ban XL bully-type breeds

Smith was handed a nine-month jail term, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to complete 20 hours of rehabilitation and 60 hours of unpaid work.

She left the dock in tears after the sentence was read out.

Judge David Aubrey KC said the boy had been "scarred emotionally, mentally and physically" as the consequence of the "extreme" and "brutal attack".

"The dog literally mauled his face and head," he said.

"Had it not been for the courageous intervention of others it may not simply have been leaving a trail of destruction, it could easily have been leaving a trail of fatality.

"In my judgement it is lucky he escaped with his life."

He said he had decided to impose a suspended sentence because Smith was not a risk to the public, and had "personal issues" that could be made worse if she was jailed.

The boy's family were visibly upset and left the court while photos of his injuries were shown, with the judge describing them as "extremely distressing".

The judge also acknowledged the "public debate" concerning American bully XL dogs after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged to ban them.

But he said: "It is not for this court to comment on the issues raised in that public debate."