BBC News, East Midlands
BBCA mother and her pet dog were badly hurt when an out-of-control XL bully dog barged into their home and bit them.
Dawn Mawby and her French bulldog Darcy were attacked at their home in Mountsorrel, Leicestershire, in February 2024.
Marecko Ratteray and Kerryan Bott, the owners of the XL Bully, were given 14-month suspended sentences at Leicester Crown Court on Thursday.
The dog, called Cookie, was destroyed after the attack, the court heard.
Doorbell camera footage played to the court showed Mrs Mawby and Darcy outside their house in John Wesley Close – near to where Cookie was staying at Bott’s home.
The video showed Cookie running towards them as Mrs Mawby got Darcy into her house and tried to shut the door.
Nicola Patton, prosecuting, said: “She [Mrs Mawby] ran into her house and tried to close the front door behind her but was unable to stop Cookie getting in.
“She picked up Darcy and said Cookie was constantly jumping up at her.”
The court heard Mrs Mawby punched at Cookie but the dog “locked” its jaws onto her left arm causing “nasty” bite wounds.
The XL bully then grabbed Darcy – who was hiding under a table – in its jaws and “ragged” the smaller dog.
Mrs Mawby’s neighbour, Michael Page, heard the struggle and came round to help but Cookie bit his finger, leaving it “hanging off”, the court heard.
The attack ended when Mr Page and Ratteray, who had chased after Cookie to try to restrain the dog, were able to free Darcy.
Mrs Mawby’s sons, aged nine and seven, were in the house at the time of the attack and could be heard crying on the video footage.
‘No chance’
Mrs Mawby told the BBC: “I’m just glad it was me and not my children.
“I just grabbed Darcy and I ran into my house.
“I wasn’t quick enough to get the front door closed and the dog literally came running in, she barged the way through, she was so powerful.
“It all happened so quickly, I was screaming, I didn’t realise I was injured at the time because of the adrenaline going through my body.
“The XL bully saw Darcy running into my living room, Darcy’s come under my coffee table but she had no chance, the dog flipped the table from one side of the living room to the other.
“It was ragging her round like a rabbit.”
Darcy had an emergency operation following the attack as her muscle had been torn from her bone.
Mrs Mawby, who said that she had suffered flashbacks of the attack and had post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), added : “I wouldn’t be here telling my story if it wasn’t for Michael [Page].”
SuppliedSimren Singh, defending the couple, said Cookie got loose when Ratteray was putting out the rubbish.
“This incident involved a momentary lapse of attention,” he said.
“They both accept responsibility for the awful consequences for the victims.”
The attack took place on 15 February, two weeks after a national ban on owning XL bullies came into force, though the court heard Ratteray had a certificate of exemption, meaning he owned Cookie legally.
However, the court heard Ratteray had signed a voluntary control order five months before the attack after Cookie bit another dog.
That meant the defendant had to keep Cookie secure at all times.
‘Red alert’
Judge William Harbage KC said Ratteray had breached that order, adding: “Frankly, it is beyond me why anyone would want to own a dog like this – and I say that as a dog owner.
“You must be on red alert to keep them under control.”
He told the defendants: “The two of you were negligent in ensuring that dog was under proper control – you allowed it to escape with very serious consequences.
“It could have been a whole lot worse if the dog had got hold of a child.”
Bott, 34, of John Wesley Close in Mountsorrel, and Ratteray, 41, of Oxford Street, Leicester, were ordered to pay £500 compensation to Mrs Mawby and £1,000 to Mr Page.
The pair were also ordered to each complete 200 hours of unpaid work and pay £610.60 towards the cost of kenneling Cookie before the dog was destroyed.
They were also banned from owning dogs for five years.
Additional reporting by Isaac Ashe
