Lewis Barkley, 11, suffered horrifying injuries when he and a friend, who cannot be named, were attacked in Speke on June 24 this year.
Harrowing pictures of terrified Lewis, who suffered 17 bites requiring more than 300 stitches, were released by his family after his ordeal.
Fredrick Farnsworth, 73, of Stapleton Avenue, Speke, admitted two counts of being in charge of a dog which was dangerously out of control. But the two Staffordshire Bull Terriers - which he claims he was walking for a man called 'Mark' - still remain at large and could strike again.
Because he's refused to hand them over. Yes, you read that right.
Judge Gary Woodhall today said the grandad's stance showed "a complete lack of remorse" and told him: "You should hang your head in shame".
Shame is only felt by humans.
Liverpool Crown Court heard Farnsworth denied perverting the course of justice, by allegedly misleading police over the location of the dogs.
He was set to stand trial, but prosecutors were forced to drop the charge after conceding there was not a realistic prospect of a conviction.
Meaning that the jury selection process in Liverpool is incapable of picking those with an IQ over 45..? Or that even their normal human instincts of self-preservation are overrun by misplaced sympathy with the petty criminal?
Farnsworth said he took the dogs home and locked them in his garage before going back to the park, but when he returned with police, they had gone.
Yeah, sure.
He confessed that the dogs had earlier ripped apart a football belonging to some other boys and he had paid them £10, before the second attack.
/facepalm
Farnsworth's 12 previous convictions for 19 offences, the last in 1999, are mostly for dishonesty and driving matters, but also include assaults in the 1960s.
Fine, upstanding citizen, clearly.
He used two crutches in the dock, which Jeremy Rawson, defending, said was the result of a hip replacement in August, and also has arthritis.
Sure, that must be the reason.
Judge Woodhall noted in a pre-sentence report, Farnsworth said he would rather spend time in prison than place his grandson at risk by naming the dogs' owner.
He said: "It seems you're in effect condoning what happened - putting other members of the public at risk of serious injury."
The judge ordered the destruction of the dogs - which he said the owner was hiding from the authorities - and banned Farnsworth from keeping dogs indefinitely.
Unrepentant Farnsworth showed no emotion as he was jailed for 18 months.
If police turned up to these cases and shot the dogs then and there, we wouldn't have this expensive farce.
"If police turned up to these cases and shot the dogs then and there,"
ReplyDeleteunfortunately we'd end up like that farce in Bolton where the police had to shoot a dozen times just to kill one dog, because they were playing with their favourite weapons h&K MP5s (basically submachine guns) rather than using appropriate weapons. They'd probably end up killing as many bystanders as dogs as they played soldiers.
"unfortunately we'd end up like that farce in Bolton where the police had to shoot a dozen times just to kill one dog..."
ReplyDeleteAh, yes! And wounded one that got away. I wonder if they ever found it?