Dog ordered to be put down after biting Leeds postman

Katie Craig even escaped the £9,086 kennel bill after the judge at Leeds Crown Court said she had no means by which to pay it back.

The 32-year-old admitted two counts of having a dog dangerously out of control which caused injury.

Prosecutor Hana Ahmed said the first incident happened on May 8 last year, when a man was walking along Brudenell Road in Hyde Park at around 6pm. He saw what he described as a brown and grey “pitbull” dog that was not on a lead.

He was about to cross the road when the dog came running up behind him and bit into the back of his knee.

Craig came running up and was shouting at the dog - named Enzo - to let go. She hit it across the head to get the animal free, then walked away without checking on the victim. The man had to go to hospital where his wound was cleaned and he was given a tetanus shot.

But less than two weeks later, at around 2pm on May 20, a postman was on his round on Kensington Court, just off Brudenell Road, when he heard a woman shouting “Enzo”.

He turned around to find the dog running towards him. He jumped onto a wall to get away and the dog tried to bite him. Craig was able to get hold of the dog, but he broke free again and went for the postman, this time clamping onto his leg.

It then grabbed onto his shoe, which he was able to remove, before the dog tried to bite him for a third time.

Craig begged the postman not to contact the police, saying the dog was only eight months old.

After being arrested, Craig initially gave no comments during her police interview but did admit the dog belonged to her and was trying to train him. She has 24 previous convictions for 35 offences, although none similar to the dog offences.

The court heard that having spent months in kennels, the dog continued to show aggression.

Mitigating, Leila Taleb said that Craig has emotionally-unstable personality disorder, PTSD and bipolar. She said Craig, of Holdforth Garden, New Wortley, had been “in and out of care” since she was 13 and that her “chaotic upbringing has led to her chaotic lifestyle”.

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She said she had only had the dog for three weeks before it attacked the victims.

The judge, Recorder Alex Menary, acknowledged Craig had a long-standing addiction to drugs.

He handed her a 16-month jail sentence, suspended for 18 months. She was also handed 25 rehabilitation days and banned her from keeping dogs for the next five years.

He said there was “no other option” but to impose a destruction order on the dog.