Exclusive:XL Bully Ghost: Police shot 'dangerously out of control' dog four times as pet died in Sheffield street
Police shot an XL Bully four times after it escaped from a house in Sheffield after receiving 999 calls warning that the dog had attacked people, court heard.
But Sheffield magistrates heard yesterday that one of the officers called to the scene accepted,after seeing video of the incident played back, that the dog did not appear to be acting dangerously in the 17 second clip that was shown.
The dog’s owner, Sophie Zaherali, aged 30, of Dykes Hall Road, Wisewood, was found guilty after a three hour trial of being the owner or person in charge of a dog dangerously out of control, with no injuries caused.
She also pleaded guilty to malicious communications against the police officer who had shot her dog dead, for a series of messages placed on social media following the incident on December 7 last year.
The court heard how police had received a nunber of 999 calls after her beloved pet, Ghost, had got out of the family home and onto Dyke Hall Road, with no muzzle and no lead, on what was a Saturday afternoon. Police received calls reporting injuries.
Justin Bullas, prosecuting, told District Judge Tim Spruce that Ms Zaherali had got an excemption certificate for Ghost, as a banned breed, but had not forwarded evidence to the Secretary of State that he had been neutered, meaning it had lapsed.
He said that on December 7, Ghost had got out of the house while Ms Zaherali was dealing with a medical emergency involving her child. She had rushed into the house to help the youngster, who was having a seizure, and the door had not closed properly.
Describing her statement to police, he said: “She was unaware that Ghost was out until a neighbour shouted after gun shots.”
She had described Ghost as being like her baby, and how people would pose for pictures with him because he was so big.
Mr Bullas added: “There had been a football match going on, and it was close to a shopping centre.”
Two people made 999 calls to the police, and an armed response unit was sent to the scene.
When officers arrived, Ghost was close to two people.
A witness described the dog jumping up near them, as they stood with their hands crossed over their chests in a ‘defensive position’.
Connie Coombs, defending, put it to witnesses that this stance could have just been to keep warm, on a December afternoon.
Mr Bullas said when the police armed response unit arrived, officers got out of their car and one of them shouted a warning to the couple to move away from the dog, which then moved towards him, and another officer, who was granted anonymity by the court and was referred to only as A35.
A35 fired three times at Ghost with a shotgun as the dog approached.
With the dog seriously injured he then used a pistol to end its suffering, near the junction with Dunella Road.
One witness who gave evidence to the court behind a screen told how he had been driving in the area. He described seeing the grey and white dog ‘jumping up’ on its back legs at two women, who he said had were holding two small dogs above their heads to try to keep them away from Ghost.
He told the court he was afraid to get out of his car to help them, but called them over to get into his vehicle. He said the woman who owned the dogs was in tears in the back of his car.
Both of the police officers sent to attend the incident were shown 17 seconds of video footage from officer A35’s body cam.
The second officer, under questioning from Ms Coombs, agreed that Ghost had not appeared to be acting dangerously during the footage. But he said they had to make a split second decision as the dog approached, and that the information they had was that it had attacked people.
Finding the charges proved, Mr Spruce said it met the threshold of the definition of ‘dangerous and out of control’ laid out in the Dangerous Dogs Act, which says a dog shall be regarded as dangerously out of control on any occasion on which there are ‘grounds for reasonable apprehension that it will injure any person (or assistance dog), whether or not it actually does so.
“The evidence of witnesses is enough for me to regard Ghost as dangerously out of control and find the case proved,” the judge said.
He adjourned the case for pre-sentencing reports, but told Ms Zaherali that he was not considering a custodial sentence.