Dog ordered to be destroyed after attacking pizza-delivery man in Leeds garden

Paul Hartley and Tracy Fulthorpe were told that their Old Tyme Bulldog must be put down and slapped with the banning order for 15 years following the attack in the garden of their home in Lower Wortley.

Judge Robin Mairs told the pair during a hearing at Leeds Crown Court that they had already “had a warning shot across their bows” about the dogs previously, but did not go into detail.

He said: “What if a child’s ball had rolled into the garden and they had gone to get it? What if the dogs escaped?

"This pizza delivery man thought they were friendly, alas, they were not.

"Having them running around the garden was not good enough. Not good enough at all.

“It’s with a heavy heart that I have to make a destruction order. When it comes to dogs, it’s how they are treated and brought up which results in their behaviour and that is your responsibility. You are not fit to look after dogs.”

Prosecutor Andrew Semple said the fast-food worker had tried to deliver the order to the home on Fawcett Way at around 7pm on September 6, 2021.

With the family’s two bulldogs in the garden, they ran and began jumping up at the worker when he let himself in through the gate. Initially thinking they were being friendly, he put his hand out but was bitten on the hand and on the thigh.

He later needed hospital treatment, requiring a tetanus shot and anti-biotics. He was uncertain which of the two dogs had sunk its teeth into him because they both looked similar, but the court was told that one of the dogs has since died.

When the police visited the home with a warrant to seize the dogs, they also found illegal drugs – amphetamine – and more than £1,700 in cash.

In addition, they found weapons including zombie knives and push daggers, which are now illegal to own. They also found BB guns.

Hartley, 51, and Fulthorpe, 52, both admitted a charge of having a dog dangerously out of control that caused injury. Hartley also admitted possession of prohibited weapons in a private place.

They were both given 18-month community orders with rehabilitation days, Hartley receiving 10 and Fulthorpe getting 25. Hartley was also given 150 hours of unpaid work.

Fulthorpe’s son, Keidon Fullthorpe, 23, of the same address, admitted possession of amphetamine. He was fined £100.

The weapons and drugs were ordered to be destroyed, while the £1,700 cash that was found was confiscated under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

No mitigation was put forward by the defendants’ barristers after Judge Mairs said none of them would be jailed. Probation reports for each were read out, which suggested Hartley accepted full responsibility, and that Keidon Fulthorpe just wanted to “get on with his life”.

The probation officer said that Tracy Fulthorpe did not take full responsibility for her actions, and claimed she suffered from agoraphobia, but there was no medical evidence to back this up.