Hurt police dog walker sues force

Janice Flynn was walking the police dog along a path connecting the exercise area to kennels at the force's Fettes HQ when she was hurt.

The dog, named Jeck, had spotted another Alsatian left in the cage of a police van parked beside the kennels and lunged at it.

Lawyers for Mrs Flynn said Jeck pulled her forward by the lead across the slippery path, causing her to "violently jerk her neck" before losing her footing as the dogs "began attacking and harrying each other".

Mrs Flynn, who lives in Baberton, suffered ripped tendons and nerves in her neck during the accident, as well as displacement of the spine at the vertebrae. The police support staff worker was said to suffer from "extreme pain across her neck and shoulder, and pain and weakness down her right arm and fingers" as a result of the incident.

Her lawyers told Edinburgh Sheriff Court at a recent hearing that the "severe" pain had left her unable to work.

Mrs Flynn had been employed by the force at its horse and dog section at Fettes.

In papers drawn up by her lawyers to the court, Mrs Flynn said that there had been "previous incidents where dog walkers . . . had been injured by police dogs. This resulted from the dogs being startled by encountering people or other dogs on the access road to the kennels."

The papers added that an e-mail had been sent out to the dog section "detailing procedures which would avoid this . . . The measures proposed were not properly enforced and no steps were taken to reduce risks to employees".

Mrs Flynn launched her legal case after asserting that the force had breached health and safety in the workplace regulations by failing to make sure the area was safe. Her lawyers argued that the path where the accident took place on July 12, 2006, was made of a mix of sand and grass which made it "unsafe". and "too slippery to maintain her footing" when the dog pulled away.

In addition, her legal team said that the force are liable for her injuries under the Animals (Scotland) Act 1987 as they were the keepers of Jeck and the second Alsatian.

Lawyers for Lothian and Borders Police are contesting the case being pursued by Mrs Flynn. In court, their counsel questioned how the dogs could be "attacking and harrying" each other through a closed cage door, adding that there was no suggestion that injuries were caused after the initial "lunge" by Jeck.

The force also contends that there had been only one previous incident where a dog walker had been injured and that took place at a different location at Fettes.

Sheriff Fiona Reith ruled the case should go forward to a further hearing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court later this month.