Teen says he feels ‘like a freak’ after out-of-control dog ripped off his NOSE as he stroked it at friend’s house
Aiden Noel, 19, from Houghton Regis, Beds, was left needing up to three ops over the next eight months to repair the damage
A TEEN said he has been left feeling ‘like a freak’ after a crazed dog ripped off part of his nose.
Aiden Noel, 19, from Houghton Regis, Beds, was savagely attacked by his pal's Jack Russell Terrier, leaving him needing up to three operations over the next eight months.
The pint-sized pooch suddenly lunged and bit off a "chunk" of Aiden's nose as he stroked it at his friend's home last November.
The brave youngster told of how the horrific attack had left him "trapped at home".
And he admitted people staring at his wounds and bandages made him feel like "a freak".
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Aiden said: "I feel self-conscious being face to face – I feel I'm being stared at quite a lot.
"Sometimes it makes me feel down a bit, obviously with what I'm having to go through.
"They glued my forehead together so it's really tight.
"If I'm laughing at all it feels like the stitching is pulling apart."
Recalling the day of the attack, Aiden explained: "I bent down to stroke the dog, Milo. He was on the sofa and as I bent down there was no warning – he didn't growl, he didn't bark at me.
"I started to stroke him on the side of the neck and as I lent in further – I was about a foot away from him – he just lunged forward and bit me on the end of my nose.
"My first reaction was to pull away... after I had done that I was in a bit of shock.
"My friend said, 'You're bleeding. Seriously you're missing a chunk off your nose' and he took me in the bathroom and showed me in the mirror.
"Literally I just looked in the mirror and could just see my whole nose from the bottom was red, all around my mouth was red and it was all going on the floor. It was quite heavy bleeding.
"I knew the dog for months. The first few times it was obviously quite aggressive – it's tried to bite me before on the leg – but I got to know it, I had the dog sitting on my lap stroking it and it was fine."
Aiden was rushed to A&E at Luton and Dunstable Hospital, before being transferred to the Royal Free Hospital in London for treatment by specialist plastic surgeons.
The teen was kept in for three days to have the wound cleaned and made less jagged from the bite marks.
He was left with an open gash after a surgeon connected skin from his forehead to replace missing nose tissue and faces more operations to repair his nose over the next eight months.
The wound across his forehead has now been bandaged over.
The dog's owner - Stephen Taylor - was fined £120 and ordered to pay £150 to Aiden in compensation after admitting keeping a dangerous dog at his home last month.
But Aiden hit out at Luton magistrates for letting Taylor keep the dog, saying they were putting kids at risk by refusing to order that it is put down.
He also slammed the "disgusting" amount of compensation he was awarded, with Taylor ordered to pay a total of £235 in additional costs to the court and prosecution.
He said: "I think it's disgusting really. The court actually got more in court costs than I did. If it was a two-year-old that this happened to you would have a death."
The former warehouse worker said he had lost more than £5,000 in earnings after being left unable to work due to the risk of infection.
He added: "This is something that's going to stay with me for the rest of my life possibly.
"I've lost well over £5,000 since I haven't been working - £150, that's a real insult to be fair.
"It seems like no one really cares. Things have definitely been put on hold at the moment. I loved working and now I'm trapped at home."
The teenager claimed the rescue dog was dangerous as a result of being abused by a previous owner.
Taylor, 53, of Houghton Regis, was fined £120, ordered to pay £150 in compensation to Aiden, plus a £30 victim surcharge and £85 towards the prosecution costs.
He denied his dog was dangerous and claimed Aiden ignored his warnings he was going to be bitten at the time.
He said: "I wasn't happy because I didn't want to pay the guy any money whatsoever.
"It's no fun having part of your nose ripped off but if he hadn't have started it in the first place there would have been no issue."
Court documents show magistrates presided by Alan Blanckensee at the hearing on March 8 did not disqualify him from keeping a dog.
The "dog was not a danger to the public so not destroyed".
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