A muscular and aggressive dog which weighed nearly 100 pounds and possessed a name befitting of its physique. Young and sweet Jack Lis was no match for the animal that would cause his death in the most horrific way imaginable.
It's unthinkable that a schoolboy can go out to play one day and not come home. But the XL Bully named Beast was too powerful and too violent for anyone to stop it.
As the 10-year-old's lifeless body was pulled out of a house in Penyrheol, Caerphilly, by police, Jack was already dead having sustained "catastrophic and unsurvivable" injuries. Gunshots rang around the street as firearms officers shot and killed Beast to prevent him from causing danger to anyone else.
Read full coverage of the case here
The dog's owner, Brandon Hayden, and carer Amy Salter were nowhere to be seen. But they would receive justice for their gross negligence which led to an innocent boy being robbed of the rest of his life in a fatal dog attack. This is the full story of how Jack Lis was killed by a dangerous dog.
Bought on Facebook
Brandon Hayden, 19, of Pen y Bryn, Penyrheol, purchased Beast on November 3 having responded to an advert on Facebook. He was told the dog would be free to anyone willing to give it a good home.
The seller said the animal was not good with other dogs but Hayden agreed to take ownership of Beast on the understanding it was prone to aggressive behaviour. Despite his house being too small for Beast and his father too ill to look after him, Hayden went forward with the deal, viewing the dog as a status-symbol.
He asked friend Amy Salter if she would be willing to keep the dog at her house. Salter, 29, then of Pentwyn, Penyrheol, initially rejected the request having felt nervous of Beast's size but later relented and agreed to let Beast live in her home. Hayden was given a spare key so he could take the animal for walks and would be responsible for providing him with food and water.
Aggressive behaviour caught on camera
In the days leading up to Jack's death, Hayden and sometimes Salter could be seen hanging around outside the Top Shops in Penyrheol with Beast in tow. On several occasions the dog was recorded on CCTV lunging and barking at people in the street.
In a number of incidents, Beast attempted to attack passers-by as Hayden and Salter looked on and laughed. The dog also frightened children, with one boy abandoning his scooter in fear the dog would bite him. Hayden was hardly able to keep the animal under control as it pulled and strained on the leash.
On November 4, Michael Ball was bitten by Beast as he made his way out of Top Shops and received a cut on his arm which became swollen. Hayden initially disbelieved Mr Ball was bitten but upon showing him the wound, the defendant smacked Beast on the head.
On November 7, another victim, Sian Sullivan, approached the dog again outside Top Shops and asked Hayden if Beast would bite but he told her he would only jump up. She went over to stroke Beast but he lunged at her, and grabbed hold of her hoodie while growling. She felt the hoodie ripping and closed her eyes in fear.
Hayden kicked Beast to the chest but he did not flinch or let go of his grasp. Ms Sullivan received an injury to her chest, felt shocked, was shaking and broke down in tears when she returned home.
In another incident, Hayden's father looked after Beast but upon speaking to his neighbour in the garden, the dog mauled the neighbour's Jack Russell which Hayden's father was powerless to prevent. Despite the warnings, the defendant maintained ownership of Beast and Salter continued to allow the animal in her home and provided him with shelter, food and water with only an open bathroom door preventing him from going upstairs. She had no equipment or cage to restrain Beast if he should become violent.
The fatal attack
On November 8, Salter went to work and Hayden brought Beast back to the house at 3pm after taking him out for a walk. After finishing school for the day, Jack was invited to see the dog when no adults were present. Jack was initially nervous of Beast but having been reassured of his safety he went up the dog to give him a stroke. But Beast violently jumped up with his paws out and sent Jack crashing to the floor before proceeding to fatally attack him.
The full details of what happened to Jack are publicly unknown due to their graphic nature but he was described as sustaining "catastrophic and unsurvivable injuries". An inquest opening heard Jack received "severe injuries to the head and neck"
Attempts were made to save Jack but Beast was said to be "too powerful" and they were unable to prevent it from attacking Jack. Neighbour Kurt Wiegold rushed to Salter's address and could see the dog attacking a boy through the glass panel but he was unable to get in.
He described seeing a "terrible scene" through a small opening and shut the door to prevent the dog from getting out and attacking others. He then called the emergency services.
Hayden had been called and having arrived at the scene he looked inside the door before quickly closing it. Mr Wiegold described Hayden as "freaking out" and that he left as police arrived in the street.
Crowds gathered outside the house with initial confusion about how many children were inside the property with the dog. Police made attempts to distract Beast by banging on the kitchen window. Sergeant Ross Phillips reached inside and dragged Jack's body into the garden, holding off Beast as he tried to get out of the house. Paramedics tried to treat Jack but he was already dead.
Firearms officers entered the house with loaded firearms and shot Beast in an upstairs bedroom. The dog was found to weigh 96.5 pounds and was described as "muscular". The crowd outside the house included Jack's parents but they were still unsure of the identity of the boy inside the house. Upon receiving a description of Jack, police confirmed he was the deceased and broke the devastating news to his parents that their son was dead.
Arrests and interviews
Hayden and Salter were arrested and were interviewed on November 9 and December 9. Hayden provided a prepared statement saying he had answered a Facebook advert for a 15-month-old male dog weighing around 100 pounds. He said he was told the dog was great with people.
He said he asked Salter if she wanted the dog and she gave him a key to have access to the dog. He said he would take Beast for walks two or three times a day. The defendant said he had no concerns about the dog and Salter raised no concerns. When he dropped Beast to Salter’s home on November 8, he said the house was empty.
He said he later received a call about an emergency but was unable to get into Salter’s home. Hayden said he “would never forget the images he saw” and would “never get them out of his mind”. He said as far as he was concerned the dog belonged to Salter.
In her interviews, Salter said she was asked by Hayden to look after the dog and initially said, ‘no’, but she later agreed that Beast could stay with her for a few days. She later said the dog was “ok” and allowed it to stay at her house. The defendant said she “felt pressure” about the set-up and had concerns about her landlord. She said she gave Hayden a key to come and go as he pleased as he was responsible for looking after the dog. She said she had no concerns about Beast other than that he had urinated on her carpet and bed.
Salter said if she had known the dog was dangerous she would never have agreed to have allowed it into her home. She said Hayden was responsible for walking, feeding and watering the dog but thought the dog still belonged to the person who made the Facebook advert.
Jack's funeral
Hundreds of people attended Jack's funeral at St Martin's Church in Caerphilly on November 25. Mourners wore red, Jack's favourite colour. A procession led by Jack's favourite cars, including a Delorean similar to those in the Back to the Future film, drove past Cwm Ifor Primary School where red balloons containing message from pupils were released.
Musical tributes included Start Over by Flame, See You Again by Wiz Khalifa and Family Tree by Ramz. Jack's family also included pictures of him in his school uniform and on his bike. The Reverend Mark Greenway Robbins told the congregation: "None of us expected to be here and no-one wanted to be here. But let us take a moment to think of how we remember Jack. Maybe it was watching films like Fast and Furious with him. Hold onto that particular memory of him that you treasure him for and thank him for. And let's honour him for a moment in the quiet together. As we remember times of tears and laughter we thank God because of the love we shared for Jack."
A special tribute from Jack's mother read: "My beautiful baby boy I don't know where to begin. I've spent the last 10 years watching you grow and we started to see you grow into the most amazing man. My heart aches so badly I won't get the chance to see you grow. I'll forever miss your stories about the games on the PlayStation, the cars you built on the games. But most of all I'll miss your voice my boy and I'd give anything to hear you again. This isn't a goodbye it's a see you later dude."
The court hearings
Hayden pleaded guilty to being the owner of a dog which caused injury resulting in death while dangerously out of control, two counts of being the owner of a dog which caused injury while dangerously out of control in a public place and three counts of being the owner in charge of a dog dangerously out of control. Salter pleaded guilty to being in charge of a dog which caused serious injury resulting in death.
In a sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on June 10, Judge Michael Fitton QC said: “I’d like to pay my personal respects and express the court’s condolences to the family, loved ones and all those that knew him. Every life this court learns about is itself precious and the value of every life is greater of course to those who knew and loved the individual…
“For any child to lose their life at the age of 10 is bad enough but the circumstances we have heard and read and the pain expressed in VPS in intense terms the unbearable impact and harm it has done to those who knew and loved Jack. His death was an utterly tragic and needless event, it should never have happened and need never have happened.” Addressing the defendants, the judge said: "The impact of your actions, irresponsibility, and thoughtlessness will live with the family of Jack forever and will weigh heavily on your conscience for the rest of your life.”
Hayden was sentenced to four years and six months detention in a young offenders' institute and Salter was sentenced to three years imprisonment. Both were disqualified from owning or keeping a dog indefinitely.
Family statement
After the hearing, Jack's mother Emma Whitfield expressed anger towards the defendants responsible for the dog which caused her son's death. Holding on tightly to a cuddly toy that had belonged to her "beautiful" son, she said the following: "Unfortunately, the torture will continue and we will have to continue to live with it. This has been the consequence of people wanting a status symbol. This animal was not a family pet. It was not a cute cuddly member of the family. It was made to be this way and there was absolutely no intent on anyone calming it from the moment it was born."
She added: "Amy Salter, a mother, allowed this dog into a house knowing full well what it was capable of. More needs to be done regarding the law to prevent these types of owners and to prevent the situation happening again. Far too many people lack the knowledge or understanding of powerful breeds and this needs to be addressed."
Ms Whitfield said: "Hayden has laughed in my face too many times trying to sell a dog with the same name two months later just two doors away from me. This has shown absolutely no remorse or respect to me."
Turning to Salter, who allowed the dog to be kept at the property, Ms Whitfield said she "knew full well what it was capable of" and added: "More needs to be done regarding the law to prevent these types of breeds and to prevent this situation happening again. Far too many people lack the knowledge or understanding of how to breed these dogs and this needs to be addressed."
The proud mum also paid tribute to her son, saying: "Nothing will ever make up for what has happened to our family. Jack played, he told jokes. He deserved to live more of a life than this. I could stand here all day and tell you what that Jack meant to us and still means to us. We will never stop breathing Jack or living him, Our love for him will continue to stay strong. So much has been taken from us. Now we must live our life sentence without such a beautiful boy."
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