Sutton couple’s dogs who savaged and killed a labrador will be destroyed

Magdalena and Tomasz Adamowicz's English bulldogs - Nefri and Apollo - escaped from an insecure back garden after a patio door was left open at 8am, on October 23, 2020, after they had previously attacked and injured another dog and its owner.

The black ten-year-old Labrador was being walked on Coppice Croft when the 20-minute attack began. When its owner tried to protect his dog, Nefri and Apollo "locked on to his hands and arms," and a neighbour hit them with a baseball bat until police arrived and brought them under control.

Recorder Richard Oakes said CCTV footage of the attack was "difficult to watch". The owner sustained cuts to his right wrist, and was still in a specialist ward at Derby Royal Hospital when his much-loved pet was put to sleep.

Nottingham Crown Court heard how the dogs had escaped six months earlier, on March 29, and attacked a cocker spaniel - puncturing its lung and biting the owner's hand.

As a result, the Adamowiczs received a Community Protection Warning ordering them to fit the dogs with muzzles in public and keep them in a secure garden.

But on June 1, their seven year-old female English bulldog - Sparta - escaped from the garden and “pounced” on another dog. The owner had to pin the dog's head against railings and said Mrs Adamowicz was "aggressive" towards her.

Apollo and Nefri were also able to escape from the back garden and run into a neighbour's house in the summer of last year.

The couple were issued with a Community Protection Notice covering all four of their dogs after the Labrador was killed. But nearly a year after the first incident, in March 2021, the couple's fourth English Bulldog - Rocko - was able to slip its leash and escape after Mrs Adamowicz's 74-year-old mother tied it up outside a local Tesco store.

Prosecutor Abigail Hill said the incidents could have been avoided if the defendants had acted on the first official warning. She said they both worked full-time and were unable to provide the supervision and training necessary to keep four dogs.

"You haven't made one mistake, you have made four," Ms Hill said. "A dog is dead and a man has permanent scarring because of those mistakes.

"This breed of dogs have an inherent drive to attack and, should they get another opportunity to escape, the court can't say another attack won't happen that could be potentially worse."

Mrs Adamowicz told the court she was "absolutely devastated" by what happened, and said: "These dogs are like my children, I am sorry to say. They are my emotional support."

Gareth Gimson, mitigating, said the couple showed "genuine remorse," but hugely underestimated "the scale of the problem."

He argued they were "fit and proper owners" who had kept dogs for 14 years without incident, but were suffering a personal tragedy at the time.

"People make mistakes in these situations," he said. "Their eyes can drift off the ball."

The problem was "compounded because the dogs had limited chances to socialise during lockdown."

During a two-day hearing, the court heard Nefri and Apollo had a “strong predatory instinct” and were capable of aggression towards other dogs. That aggression could be transferred to humans who tried to protect their dogs.

Recorder Oakes said the Labrador's owner suffered flashbacks after the attack and his right hand is not yet fully healed.

On Thursday he sentenced them to eight months in prison, suspended for 18 months, on two counts of being in charge of dangerous dogs that caused injury while they were out of control. He ordered them to pay £4,700 compensation.

He said they were "otherwise law-abiding citizens" and didn't "doubt both of your love the dogs." He stepped back from banning them from owning dogs, but ordered the destruction of Nefri and Apollo.

"I don't need to remind you of what could have happened if it had been a child in charge of the labrador," the judge said.

Magdalena, 38, and Tomasz, 41, of Alfreton Road, Sutton, wept and clung to each other as they heard the verdict.

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