A man has been jailed for three years after setting his XL bully on two people during a broad daylight street attack that left both victims seriously injured.
Colin Pearson, 44, shouted “get him, kill him” as his dog King mauled Kurtis Rutter during a row in Hendon, Sunderland. When a passer-by, Jake Moan, tried to help, the dog turned on him too. Both men were hospitalised after the out-of-control dog bit their arms, necks, ears and legs.
Newcastle Crown Court heard the terrifying incident unfolded in a residential area, with members of the public — including an elderly person — forced to flee as the dog caused chaos in the street.
Dog tasered then destroyed after rampage
A police officer tasered the animal at the scene before a vet arrived to humanely destroy it. Pearson, of Noble Street in Sunderland, admitted two charges of being in charge of a dangerously out of control dog causing injury.
He has 165 previous offences on his record and was on two suspended sentences at the time of the attack last November.
Prosecutor Joe Hedworth said Pearson had owned the dog for just two weeks and had already told Mr Rutter he “wanted to get rid of it”. When the argument began outside a shop, the dog sprinted toward Mr Rutter, knocked him down and latched on.
Mr Moan tried to intervene, but the animal bit his arm and tore the wound open further when he tried to pull away.
Judge: ‘Too little, too late’
Judge Robert Spragg said Pearson’s attempts to stop the attack were “too little, too late” and described the footage as “horrendous to watch”.
“You can see members of the public jumping out of the way as the dog roams around looking for people to attack,” he said.
Both victims were left traumatised by the attack, which was described in court as a “sustained and brutal mauling”.
Not his dog, says defence
Pearson claimed the dog belonged to a drug dealer. His barrister, Christopher Knox, said he had a history of drug abuse and homelessness and was not the owner. He told the court: “He did get a stick to try and stop the dog. He was completely unable to control it.”
Judge Spragg noted the long-lasting physical and emotional effects on the victims and ruled Pearson should serve a three-year custodial sentence.
