Owner jailed for using dog as a weapon

A DOG owner was jailed for three years yesterday after using his Staffordshire bull terrier as a weapon to attack a man, leaving him with "horrific" injuries.

Alan Cooper's dog ripped flesh from Shaun Murray's body during a ferocious attack at a retail park in Aberdeen.

The 25-year-old was involved in a fight with Mr Murray when the dog leaped out of a car window and locked its jaws on its terrified victim, Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard.

The dog tore chunks out of his arm and leg, leaving his muscles exposed, at the Beach Boulevard on 8 March last year.

Mr Murray was sedated under general anaesthetic and was kept in hospital for seven days.

Cooper, a father of two young children, from Aberdeen, previously admitted assaulting Mr Murray and failing to stop the dog attack, which left his victim permanently disfigured.

Jailing Cooper for three years, Sheriff Graeme Buchanan said: "This is an extremely disturbing case, because what you effectively did was use your dog as a weapon in a very serious and savage attack upon the unfortunate complainer."