Sentence: 22 months imprisonment
James Symons, a 36-year-old opiate addict, left his front door open while in a drug-fuelled stupor at his home in Tregony, near Truro, on June 8, 2024. His Staffordshire bull terrier and pitbull cross dogs, Dougie and Lottie, escaped and attacked a 79-year-old neighbour walking her bichon frisé dog, Marty, causing severe injuries including a leg fracture that led to Marty being put down. The woman was injured while trying to intervene, falling and being bitten, and incurred £2,400 in costs without pet insurance. Symons was found half comatose from a voluntary overdose and revived by paramedics. This incident occurred while he was on bail for a prior assault on two police officers during an arrest for suspected class A drug possession, where he tried to sweep an officer's leg, bit an officer's thigh, and spat in another's face. The dogs were seized, assessed, and sent to a charity for potential rehabilitation and rehoming.