A man set his American Akita dog on his girlfriend as she fled from him in a car park, resulting in injury to the terrified woman and a “suspended death sentence” for the dog.
The powerfully built Spitz-type dog hunted the woman down and sunk its teeth into her arm, York Crown Court heard.
The dog’s owner, 29-year-old York man Callum Graham, is now behind bars for assaulting the victim in the same incident.
Prosecutor Austin Newman said that Graham and the named victim, who was a self-employed beauty therapist, were on a day trip to Tynemouth, a coastal town in North Tyneside, when the incident occurred.
He said that Graham’s partner had fled a pub in the seaside town after her drunken boyfriend became “odd and aggressive” inside the bar.
“At one point, the victim was stood at the bar ordering drinks, with Graham eyeing her in a jealous way simply because she was stood next to a male,” added Mr Newman.
The victim was later found “shaking” in the female toilets by a woman, which prompted staff to stop Graham re-entering the bar.
Enraged, Graham warned the victim that he would smash the pub windows if she didn’t leave with him.
“However, when the victim went outside, Graham appeared to have left the area,” added Mr Newman.
The victim, who hadn’t been drinking so she could drive, made her way to a nearby car park where she had left her car, but as she approached the vehicle, Graham suddenly appeared.
“He was verbally abusive as she continued towards the car, trying to ignore him,” said Mr Newman.
“As she got near to the car, he suddenly and without any provocation… punched her in the face. As she was recoiling from that first blow, he followed up with a second punch to her head described by her as an upper cut.
“She was in fear for her life, so she attempted to run across the car park to get away from him and try to get some help. She was crying and screaming.
“He pursued her, grabbing hold of her hair and pulling her to the ground by her hair. When she tried to regain her feet, he headbutted her, causing her nose to bleed heavily.”
The victim again tried to run away and managed to get into her car, frantically trying to press the “panic button” on the dashboard to summon help, but it wasn’t working. She then desperately looked for her phone to call for help as Graham drew nearer to the vehicle, but she had mislaid it in her panic.
“Consequently, Graham had time to get into the vehicle alongside her, which caused her to immediately alight from the vehicle,” said Mr Newman.
Further enraged by this, Graham snapped an interior door handle as the victim desperately tried to get the attention of a driver in another vehicle in the car park – but the man quickly drove off.
“As she was running towards that vehicle, Graham set his dog on her,” said Mr Newman.
“The dog chased after the victim and bit her on the arm, causing a bite mark, pain and discomfort.”
Fled the scene
Graham caught up with the victim and tried to drag her back to the car, but then police arrived after being called out by a member of the public.
“On seeing police, the defendant and his dog fled the scene,” said Mr Newman.
Officers took the victim to hospital where she was treated for a bruised and swollen nose, bruising to her eye and tenderness to her eye socket and jawbone which had been caused by Graham’s assault in the early hours of 30 July, 2023.
She also had a small cut to her upper arm caused by the dog bite.
Graham, of Giles Avenue, Heworth, wasn’t arrested until three months later when he was back in North Yorkshire. He told police he had no recollection of the incident because he was so drunk.
He was charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm, being the owner of a dog dangerously out of control which caused injury to the victim and damaging property, namely the door handle. He admitted the offences and appeared for sentence today (Thursday).
In a statement read out by the prosecution, the victim, a mother-of-two, said she had since moved out of the area after the attack so Graham couldn’t find her.
More than 12 months on from her horrific ordeal, she was still suffering from anxiety and having flashbacks. She had also suffered loss of earnings because for a time she didn’t want to go into work with her black eye and swollen nose which was skewed at the side due to the force of the blows.
The court heard that just weeks before the incident in Tynemouth, Graham had allegedly knocked the victim unconscious after he “floored” her with a punch during an argument. He received a police caution for battery.
Mr Newman said that Graham and the victim started a relationship in April 2023, but it soon became “toxic”, mainly due to Graham’s “jealous and possessive behaviour”.
As well as applying for a restraining order to keep Graham away from his now ex-partner, Mr Newman made an application for a “contingent” destruction order on the dog which he said was effectively a “suspended death sentence”.
He said that the dog had bitten someone in a previous incident.
Serious effect
Defence barrister Matthew Moore-Taylor, for Graham, conceded: “These offences are ugly.”
He said there was a “different” side to Graham who was otherwise a hard-working, “industrious” man.
Judge Simon Hickey said it appeared that drink was the catalyst for Graham’s anger and violence and on the day in question he had terrorised a “lone, vulnerable female in a car park”.
“This was a sustained attack on the victim using a headbutt and a dog,” he added.
“It’s had a serious psychological effect upon her.”
Graham was jailed for 18 months and made subject to a 10-year restraining order banning him from contacting the victim.
Mr Hickey made a contingent destruction order on the dog, one of the conditions being that Graham did not contact the victim.
Mr Hickey warned Graham that if he didn’t comply with the conditions, “the dog will have to be destroyed”.