A man was found dead in a garden after being mauled by up to four dogs, two of which were XL bullies, as he visited a relative’s home to feed their pets while they were in hospital, an inquest has heard.
Nicholas Glass, 33, is believed to have been attacked by his brother’s dogs after visiting his sibling’s home in Hereford Close, Rednal, near Birmingham, on the night of August 19 last year, before he escaped through a back window, injured, to seek “refuge”.
An inquest at Birmingham Coroner’s Court on Thursday heard that West Midlands Police was called in the early hours of August 21 to reports of dogs loose in the street, and after searching the property, found Mr Glass “reasonably well hidden” behind a propped-up fence panel in the garden.
Two of the dogs were seized by police at the time and the remaining pair were found by officers two miles away near Merritts Hill days later following a major search.
At the time, West Midlands Police said tests concluded that two of the dogs were of the XL bully banned breed and neither had a certificate of exemption, while the inquest heard the other two dogs were an American bulldog and a mixed breed Staffordshire cross.
Detective Constable Darren Ford told the inquest the dogs roaming loose in Hereford Close were large and not “overtly aggressive”, but that firearms officers were called to the scene as a precaution after neighbours reported they could not get out of their gate.
He said officers found a large amount of blood inside the house and near an open back window, before officers discovered the body of Mr Glass, who had a number of injuries, in the garden after around an hour.
A post-mortem examination found that Mr Glass, who lived two minutes away from his brother in Chalybeate Close, Rubery, had multiple blunt force injuries including bruises, grazes, puncture wounds and tears caused by dog bites and claws to his arms, feet and legs.
He had also suffered a major injury to his upper left arm which had exposed the bone and the bone had teeth marks on it, the pathologist found.
The cause of death was recorded as blunt force trauma from multiple dog bites.
The last known sighting of Mr Glass alive was at 10.11pm on August 19 when he was seen, with one dog, walking into his brother’s home and dogs could be heard yelping on CCTV.
Faint audio from another CCTV clip taken at 10.35pm that night appeared to suggest a person called for help three times.
Although Mr Ford said he could not be sure it was Mr Glass, he believed it could have been.
Assistant coroner Adam Hodson said it was not possible to determine which of the four dogs had attacked Mr Glass, and recorded a narrative conclusion.
He told Mr Glass’s family, who attended the inquest hearing, that despite difficulties with his mental health, he appeared to be a “happy chap” who was a loving uncle to his nieces and nephews.
He said: “I can only hypothesise on what happened. It is entirely possible he may have been attacked upon his return to the house, that he managed to leave the property via a window and called for help and that he managed to hide behind wooden panelling before succumbing to his injuries.
“That is a guess on my part, I cannot make a finding of fact.
“Sadly Nicholas did die as a result of being bitten by a dog or dogs. He may have been a troubled individual, but there is no evidence of suspicious or foul play.
“In my opinion it appears to be a terrible tragedy. He was a caring brother and son who simply offered to look after his brother’s dogs and lost his life as a terrible consequence.”
