XL bully owner jailed for five years after father-of-two mauled to death

Two “large and powerful” XL bullies who mauled a neighbour to death after they escaped from their home had previously attacked other people and were not living in a safe and secure environment, a court has heard.

The dogs, owned by James Harrison Trimble-Pettitt, 33, had no toys, blankets or dog beds and were able to escape from their home address in Main Street in Stonnall, Staffordshire, regularly through open windows and unlocked doors before they killed Ian Price, 52, on September 14 2023.

Trimble-Pettitt, now of Fradley, was jailed for five years on Thursday after pleading guilty at Stafford Crown Court in October to two counts of being the owner of a dog which, when dangerously out of control, caused the death of father-of-two Mr Price, who suffered multiple blunt force injuries.

He was also banned from keeping dogs indefinitely by Judge John Edwards, who said the incident was an “appalling act of savagery”.

A sentencing hearing at the same court on Thursday heard Mr Price was attacked by a champagne-coloured female XL bully called Via and a white male named Ares, after he left his home at around 3.10pm to walk his own dogs.

After seeing Via loose in the street having escaped out of an open window, Mr Price put his dogs back inside and started “shepherding” her back to the address of Mr Trimble-Pettitt, who had gone to work just before 3pm and left the front gate open, prosecution counsel Peter Grieves-Smith said.

“He was being very public-spirited and was to pay a heavy price for this duty,” Mr Grieves-Smith said – as Ares, who had managed to open the front door of the porch at Trimble-Pettitt’s address, approached them “boisterously and aggressively” and both dogs started to attack Mr Price.

Several neighbours and passers-by tried to stop the attack by using their cars and wheelie bins and other items to get the dogs off him, with Mr Price’s wife Heather telling police they were “absolutely ravaging” him.

He was taken to hospital in a critical condition but suffered severe blood loss and a cardiac arrest and died of his injuries that evening.

One of the dogs died during the incident after being restrained and the other was given a lethal injection by a vet inside Trimble-Pettitt’s flat.

After his arrest, Trimble-Pettitt claimed he walked his dogs regularly and looked after them properly but an expert witness instructed by the prosecution found mismanagement and the dogs’ living environment, in which they were segregated, unsupervised and suffering from frustration, boredom and separation distress, likely contributed to the development of “extreme” aggression.

The expert said it was unlikely that one factor contributed to the fatal attack but that “combination of genetic, behavioural and environmental influences exasperated by poor management and supervision of the dogs” had an impact.

The court heard there were large amounts of dog faeces in the front garden of Trimble-Pettitt’s property and living conditions were poor, with no toys and signs of “significant” damage where the dogs had chewed walls and scratched doors.

Mr Grieves-Smith said eyewitnesses had previously seen the dogs escaping from the property through unsecured windows and doors and had also attacked other people and pets and confronted a nine-year-old boy and his mother who were left “frozen” in fear.

On one occasion in March 2023, Via and Ares escaped and chased and attacked a woman who was walking her Labrador.

The woman ran into a shop for safety, where the dogs had jumped up the counter, leaving the shop owner “terrified”.

When Trimble-Pettitt went in to the shop to apologise, he claimed his dogs would not have hurt anyone.

Mr Grieves-Smith said the defendant’s actions showed a pattern of behaviour in which he had displayed “complete unwillingness to accept responsibility for the actions of his dogs”.

In a statement, Mrs Price said she was not the person she was before her husband was killed.

She said: “That Heather died with Ian. Ian’s death shook me to my core. It made me question everything I believed. It ripped away every dream and plan I had for the future.

“Ian was more than my husband and my best friend, he was the other half of me. The better half of me. I am lost without him.

“I always thought he was indestructible. He was kind and dependable and loved his family fiercely. He was our protector, our biggest cheerleader and our rock.”

She said she is still haunted by nightmares of the dogs and what her husband endured, adding: “There is no peace, no comfort, and no acceptance in a death that was so public and so preventable.”

Defence counsel Thomas Schofield KC said: “I recognise the magnitude of the loss experienced by the family of Mr Price. On any view, Mr Price was completely blameless.

“The tragedy of dying while doing something as innocuous as leaving his home is nothing less than a tragedy of the highest level.

“No sentence can bring him back, neither can it reflect the value of Mr Price’s life or the loss of his family.”

He said Trimble-Pettitt was the “epitome of remorse” and had written a letter to Mr Price’s family.

He said: “His fault is really one of negligence or recklessness rather than intention – he didn’t wake up that day thinking he was going to hurt somebody or cause somebody to get hurt.”

Sentencing, Judge Edwards said that in his role he became “accustomed to misery and tragedy” but the “catastrophic” nature of Mr Price’s death stood apart from others.

He said: “Ian Price was mauled to death by your two animals. It happened in front of his own wife of 20 years and his mother. There were numerous other witnesses to this appalling act of savagery.

“He was in the prime of his life. He was a devoted husband and father. He was generous and selfless and I wish to pay tribute to his wife and children who have spoken so movingly about him.

“No sentence will or can alleviate the devastating impact on them and I am acutely conscious the sentence will, for many, seem inadequate because it cannot diminish their pain and grief.

“The sentence does not and cannot represent the value of a life lost. The degree of heartbreak and loss caused is indescribable.”

He said the “most appalling attack” ensued and Mr Price was “utterly overpowered by these young powerful creatures who ravaged him for 12 minutes until he succumbed and later died”.

“The two dogs were owned by this defendant,” the judge said. “As culpable as he is for these events, he certainly did not intend that this attack should happen.”

He added: “I do take the view the defendant was seriously at fault. He appreciated the animals could escape. He knew they could be violent. He displayed a wholesale disregard to his responsibilities.”

Mr Price’s death was one of a number of attacks on people that led the Government to ban XL bullies.

The ban made it a criminal offence to own an XL bully in England and Wales unless owners have a valid certificate of exemption.