Boy, 4, and his mum suffer 'significant' injuries in 'vicious' Llandudno dog attack
A dangerous dog bit a four-year-old boy and his mother in a "vicious" attack. The dog struck in Llandudno and it has now been put down.
Alexander Jones, 27, appeared at Caernarfon Crown Court today to be sentenced for two offences of being the owner of a dog dangerously out of control which caused injury to two people.
The judge Her Honour Nicola Jones branded the attack "vicious" but also heard that Jones has his own "vulnerabilities". She gave him a 16-month jail sentence, suspended for 18 months. You can sign up for all the latest court stories here
The court heard a mother and her two children were on a street near Llandudno town centre at 3.15pm on March 5 last year. Jones had a dog - a Belgian Malinois - which bit the four-year-old boy.
The court heard the mother tried to get the dog off the boy and in doing so was bitten herself. The attack was witnessed by the boy's three-year-old sister.
The mother feared for the life of her two children and hit the animal with a drinks bottle. A bystander and police officers arrived to help them, the court heard.
Jones told officers he had had the dog "for his own protection". He was asked to sign a document authorising the destruction of the dog and agreed to do so immediately.
Today the judge Her Honour Nicola Jones noted that the victims sustained "significant" wounds in the "vicious attack" and that both mother and son were in pain for up to eight weeks.
There had been two previous incidents involving the dog in August and November 2023, she noted. But she also called Jones vulnerable.
He has been targeted by a criminal gang and "cuckooed" at his previous address. A court order prevents the reporting of his current address.
He has significant mental health issues and needs assistance dealing with daily living and everyday activities, said the judge.
Judge Jones told the defendant: "If you did not have several vulnerabilities which led you to get the dog in the first place I would have sent you straight to prison.
"But your mental health difficulties are so considerable that I believe you had grave difficulties - given the fact you need assistance with your daily living issues - that you were not capable from the outset of controlling this animal."
She said he was asked if the dog could be put down due to the attack and he "straight away signed the paper saying that the dog could be destroyed".
Suspending the jail sentence, she ordered Jones to attend ten days of rehabilitation activity, a six-month drug rehabilitation programme because he is "using cannabis", and a 12-month mental health treatment programme.
Jones was also banned from being in control of a dog for life. Judge Jones praised the "superb and brave" police officers.
One was attacked but not bitten in the incident, she added.
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