A man and a woman have admitted being in charge of a dog which fatally mauled a schoolboy. Jack Lis, 10, was killed after being attacked by a dog called Beast.
Brandon Hayden, 19, and Amy Salter, 28, pleaded guilty to being in charge of a dangerously out of control dog which caused severe injuries to Jack's head and neck. The attack took place at a friend's house Pentwyn, Penyrheol, Caerphilly, on November 8.
Appearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Thursday the defendants spoke to enter their pleas to the charges. Hayden, of Pen Y Bryn, Penyrheol, also pleaded guilty to five other offences involving his bulldog Beast.
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Those offences were five counts of being in charge of a dangerously out of control dog – three of which related to incidents on November 4 near Top Shops in Heol Aneurin when the dog jumped up at people and acted aggressively. On the same day Beast bit and injured Michael Ball and on November 7 Beast injured Sian Sullivan near Top Shops.
Jack was killed after Beast attacked him while he was standing near an address linked to Salter when the dog jumped onto him and caused the fatal injuries. Judge Michael Fitton QC remanded Hayden and Salter, of Llanfabon Drive, Trethomas, on bail but told them he was "not making any promises" in regards to sentence. He added: "The likely outcome, especially for you Mr Hayden, is going to be a custodial sentence."
Speaking at the time of his death Jack's family said: "We are absolutely heartbroken. Our lives will never be the same without Jack. This is not something any parent should ever have to be writing. We have so many words we want to say about our beautiful boy but they do not seem enough.
“We love him more than words can describe. Our boy made us the proudest parents and family on the planet. He was the sweetest of boys. We will forever miss his quirky ways and his stories that he would spend so long telling us. He's forever in our hearts. Sweet dreams Jack, our perfect boy.”
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