Pinxton woman asked cop if he’d seen ‘beware of dog’ sign after her bulldog savagely attacked him

Mansfield Magistrates court, Rosemary Street.

A woman asked a police officer if he’d seen a “beware of the dog” sign after her Olde English Bulldog bit him to leave a deep wound on his upper thigh which became infected, a court has heard.

The officer woke the sleeping dog up when he went into Lauren Fisher’s back garden and shouted “hello,” as he delivered a legal letter on September 14 last year, said Becky Allsop, prosecuting.

The dog lunged at him and tried to bite his hands.

Fisher, said, “Did you not see the sign?” as the dog snapped at the officers’ boot and trouser leg before biting his upper thigh and shaking its head vigorously to cause more damage.

"Get the dog off me," the officer shouted, and Fisher replied: "Get off my property."

"Are you all right?” she asked. “You shouldn't have been on the property. You should have posted it through the letter box."

She said the dog doesn't like strangers or people on the property.

The officer sustained a large open wound on his upper thigh and developed a bacterial infection which required surgery and repeated hospital visits.

In a statement he described the pain as “tremendous” and the dog’s “powerful” bite left several puncture wounds.

He needed crutches for a time and had to take six weeks off work.

George, the bulldog, was taken by police and his kennelling and vet charges amounted to £6,341. Fisher had owned him for five-and-a-half years and said he had never been aggressive towards family or friends before.

"It's an unfortunate incident," said Jim Buckley, mitigating. "As far as the dog is concerned it has barked at other people. This is the first time the dog has behaved in this way. She stopped the incident from getting any worse. She deserves credit for her early guilty plea."

Fisher, 37, of Town Street, Pinxton, admitted being the owner/person in charge of dog dangerously out of control causing injury, at Mansfield Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

"You must have had some indication the dog was aggressive as you pre-warned delivery people," the presiding magistrate told her.

She received a 12-month community order with 100 hours of unpaid work. She was ordered to pay £1,200 compensation. A contingent destruction order was made, meaning the dog will not be euthanized unless there is another incident, and it must now be muzzled in public.