Danger dog found after son attacked

A mother-of-eight was caught with an illegal fighting dog when her other dog, a rottweiler, attacked her two-year-old son.

Police were called to Sarah Docker's Tividale home after the attack and discovered the pitbull-terrier type dog.

Docker has now been banned from keeping dogs for eight years and ordered to pay £2,521 costs for owning the fighting dog, which was bought from outside a Tipton pub.

The 31-year-old had denied possession of a fighting dog at an earlier hearing but admitted the charge at Warley Magistrates Court yesterday. Clare Davis, prosecuting, told the court that police removed the pitbull-like dog, called Sparkes, from the Hollies Road home on August 30.

They had been called by paramedics who were attending after Docker's son was attacked by her rottweiler. He suffered cuts

Ms Davis said Docker's estranged husband, Craig, had bought Sparkes from a man outside a pub for £150.

In police interview the defendant admitted the dog was hers but said she did not think it was an illegal breed.

She believed it to be a cross between an American bulldog and a Dogue de Bordeaux.

Nishi Kumar, defending, said her client had been waiting for a dog expert to confirm it was a banned breed. She pointed out Docker's clean record.

"Her husband bought Sparkes after seeing a dog that looked like a cross of that animal."

Ms Kumar said the two dogs had been kept in a pen separate from the children but said the animals had managed to escape on the day of the attack.

"She is a lady who takes her responsibilities as a mother seriously," added Ms Kumar.

The rottweiler has been put down.

As well as the court costs and the eight-year ban, Docker was given a 12-month conditional discharge.

Docker's estranged husband, Craig Docker, 29, of Wheatsheaf Road in Tividale, was also originally due to stand trial for possession of a fighting dog but the charge was dropped at yesterday's hearing.

By David Lumb