‘It’s a joke’ Dad who had finger ripped off by Staffie blasts owner’s compo deal of just £10 a fortnight
Stuart Briggs was left with just half an index finger on his right hand following the vicious attack
A dad-of-one whose finger was torn off by an angry dog will receive £5,000 compensation – paid at the measly rate of just £10 a week over the next 20 years.
Stuart Briggs has blasted the Staffordshire bull terrier’s owner’s deal as a ‘joke’.
He was left with just half an index finger on his right hand and suffers constant pain since the vicious attack last November when he was protecting his three-year-old black Labrador Rex.
Stuart, 43, said: “I don’t feel like justice has been done. It’s a joke.
“I’m disgusted with what’s happened – I’ll have to wait 20 years to get the full amount of compensation.
“I thought the court would hand over the full amount to me, but I’ve been told that’s not the case.”
The dog sunk its teeth into cleaner Stuart when he tried to prise its jaws off his screaming pet’s back and it was only when he let go of the terrier that he realised his finger had been ripped off.
Stuart’s 20-year-old son Callum offered to go on the gruesome hunt and find the severed finger.
At the hospital doctors told a gutted Stuart that they couldn’t re-attach it.
DIY fanatic Stuart said: “It looked like it had been through a shredder and there was nothing they could do.
“I’m now in constant pain and can’t do the things I used to do.
“It feels like I’m getting electric shocks in my hand 24/7, my hand is still swollen and I get phantom pains in my finger.
“I couldn’t work for about two months after the attack and still dream about it.
“I can’t even look at a Staffie anymore without shaking but I’m hoping that through hypnotherapy I can get over the trauma of what happened.”
Southern Derbyshire Magistrates’ Court heard it was the third time the bull terrier had been involved in an “incident” and has since been put down.
Its owner, Balkar Bath, 25, of Derby, appeared at court and admitted being the owner of a dog which was dangerously out of control.
He has been ordered to pay the sum and is banned from having a dog for five years.