Dog owner whose Staffie mauled TWELVE kids in a playground jailed for four years
Claire Neal, 48, pleaded guilty to being the owner of a dog dangerously out of control after the attack in Northumberland left a girl's leg looking like 'Swiss cheese'
A DOG owner whose Staffie mauled 12 children in a playground in a terrifying rampage has been jailed for four years.
Claire Neal, 48, pleaded guilty to being the owner of a dog dangerously out of control following the shocking attack in Blyth, Northumberland.
The dog - named Marley - escaped from Neal's house before mauling a number of children on May 18 last year.
Newcastle Crown Court had previously been told how one little girl's leg was left looking like "Swiss cheese".
Prosecutor Fiona Clancy said the dog had been let into the front garden with no muzzle or collar on and squeezed under the front gate.
It was meant to have been put down after attacking youngsters two years earlier but Neal kept the pet.
She even tried to argue she was not guilty on the basis that the dog was the responsibility of the courts because of the destruction order - before later changing her plea to guilty.
The dog launched an attack on a six-year-old girl after it burst her ball with its teeth and she tried to free it from his mouth.
The court heard how the attack unfolded with the dog chasing children, jumping on them as they tried to flee and holding them on the ground.
Statements from the children were read out, with one girl saying she fainted after the dog closed its jaws on her.
Another child said he saw a girl being dragged by the dog while screaming.
The animal mauled 12 children in total as parents desperately tried to stop the attack.
A number of the youngsters were taken to hospital and needed glue or stitches for their injuries.
Jailing her for four years, Judge Sarah Mallett said it was a "sustained and repeated attack" and that Neal's actions were "utterly irresponsible on every level".
She said she had failed to put in place any control measures and the dog had been trained to be aggressive by Neal's partner.
The Judge added: "It was ridiculous to suggest Marley was not your dog, you were the owner and responsible for her at all times.
"It's clear from these descriptions there was serious injuries but it is also clear there was significant psychological harm."
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Following the attack a Northumbria Police spokesperson said: "A destruction order was issued by the court to the owner of this dog following an earlier incident.
"Once this order was issued it was the responsibility of the owner to hand the dog over for destruction at the earliest opportunity.
"On this occasion it was for the court, not the police, to enforce that order when the owner did not comply."
The dog has since been destroyed and Neal has been banned from owning dogs for life.
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