Dangerous dog which savaged Blackburn woman to be destroyed

During a hearing at Preston Crown Court last week, Judge Guy Mathieson refused to accept an application to adjourn the appeal hearing. He then refused to uphold the appeal against the destruction of Ashiya Hussain’s dog Bruno, saying the time spent on the case was “not a proper use of public funds”.

The large, white, bully kutta mastiff, also known as a Pakistani mastiff, will now be destroyed.

Although an exact figure has not been calculated, Hussain has cost the police, criminal justice system, and essentially the public, thousands upon thousands of pounds, by dragging her case through the courts for more than two years, hauling her dog’s victim through relentless hearings, appealing her conviction, withdrawing the appeal, then appealing the order to destroy her dangerous dog.

Ashiya Hussain (Image: NQ Staff)

All the while, Bruno has been kept in kennels by the police at an estimated cost of £25 a day, totalling more than £18,000, not including vet bills, food, and transportation.

To exacerbate the situation further, Hussain has refused to apologise, has showed no empathy, and didn’t even ask how victim, Donna Ormerod was, following the brutal and vicious attack by Bruno in Blackburn on January 12, 2022, which left Mrs Ormerod needing skin grafts and multiple surgeries.

READ MORE: Blackburn woman guilty over horrific Bully Kutta dog attack

In the two years since the attack, Hussain has continued to deny the charge of being the owner of a bully kuta mastiff that was dangerously out of control causing injury to another, and forced Mrs Ormerod to give evidence at trial.

However, in July last year, the 33-year-old of Railway Grove, Blackburn, was finally convicted of the dangerous dog offence, and was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to complete 20 day rehabilitation activity requirement.

She was also ordered to pay £500 compensation to Mrs Ormerod, and an application to destroy the dog was granted.

In August though, for unknown reasons, Hussain’s sentence was reduced - to 20 days suspended for 18 months, and in January, still unrepentant, she launched an appeal against both her conviction and her sentence.

At the January hearing, it was advised that she withdraw her appeal against her conviction in favour of launching an appeal against the destruction of the dog element of her sentence.

READ MORE: Remorseless owner whose dog attacked woman withdraws conviction appeal

And following that hearing, which took place last week, Judge Mathieson ordered Bruno be destroyed.

Evidence was presented to the court by dog handling and behaviour expert Craig Richardson who said that while he believed Bruno was a danger to other dogs, and not directly to humans (unless they got between Bruno and another dog), he could be trained to lower this aggression.

He suggested that the dog’s life be spared, and he be given to a new owner, with conditions for that new owner to keep the dog muzzled at all times while out in public; to be on a harness while in public; to be controlled by two points of contact at all times such as a lead attached to a collar and also a harness; and to only be allowed off a lead when in a private field.

Additionally, he said the dog would need to attend compulsory private one-to-one training sessions to try and control its behaviour.

The horrific injury sustained by Donna Ormerod when Bruno launched into a frenzied attack on her in January 2022 (Image: NQ Staff/Donna Ormerod)

A proposed new owner, Ansar Ali, also gave evidence during the hearing, telling the court that he would take care of Bruno at his terraced home in Great Harwood, which only has a small back yard, and would take him to work with him at a car garage every day and keep him locked in that garage should he need to nip out.

READ MORE: Graphic images: Blackburn woman calls for law change after dog attack

When asked by Judge Mathieson when Bruno would ever get chance to exercise or be allowed more space to roam around in, Mr Ali could not provide a satisfactory answer.  

Judge Mathieson said: “I’m sorry, but in order for the dog to be rendered safe in respect of the risk it runs to other dogs, or people, it either needs to be locked up or when at large, be muzzled or on two leads?

“So, it will never run, never chase a ball or a stick in a park, never be allowed to roll around on the floor? Effectively it’s going to be under house arrest or in prison? Is that really reasonable?

“It doesn’t matter how dangerous the dog is, if the only answer was to keep it locked in a shed for 24 hours a day you would say it was reasonable to mitigate against the risk?”

READ MORE: Owner of danger dog which mauled Blackburn woman spared jail

When an adjournment for the hearing was requested, so a second dog expert report could be compiled, Judge Mathieson said: “We are not going to use any more money on this case, for a dog. I know it’s a family pet but it’s a dog.

“How many thousands of pounds is to be spent? If this was a privately paid for case would this still be going on?

“How much is it costing on a daily basis, how much to keep Bruno in kennels? No-one has the answer, so shall we just adjourn for another three months for more public money to be spent?”

The horrific injury sustained by Donna Ormerod when Bruno launched into a frenzied attack on her in January 2022 (Image: NQ Staff/Donna Ormerod)

The court heard that a previous assessment of Bruno, conducted in July last year recommended euthanising the dog.

And evidence was provided detailing attacks by Bruno on two other dogs, one two months before the attack on Mrs Ormerod, and one two days after.

Hussain’s application was eventually dismissed by Judge Mathieson and Bruno will be destroyed in due course.