Sean Garner, 31, denies owning a dangerously out-of-control dog which caused the death of pensioner Mr McColl after he was mauled in an attack in Warrington, Cheshire
The owner of an XL bully that killed an 84-year-old man told a court on Wednesday he had locked the dog in a shed before leaving home on the day of the fatal attack.
Sean Garner, 31, said the shed was secured with a bolt and padlock, while a gate leading from his patio to driveway was fastened with a latch, chain and bolt. The defence case at Liverpool Crown Court began today after prosecutors closed theirs in the trial over the death of John McColl.
Garner, 31, denies owning a dangerously out-of-control dog which caused the death of pensioner Mr McColl after he was mauled in an attack in Warrington, Cheshire, on February 24 last year. Giving evidence, Garner said: “On the day of the attack I had locked [the dog] in the shed before I left the premises.”
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Asked by his barrister Lloyd Morgan how he had secured the shed, Garner told the jury: “The shed had a bolt like any normal shed, it goes over a loop which also has a padlock through the loop so you can’t lift it up unless you remove the key. [The] padlock was closed but it had the key in the bottom of it.”
Yesterday, police dog expert PC Stuart Davidson accepted that the attack could possibly have happened if Mr McColl opened the shed door and released the dog, Toretto. Mr Morgan asked: “Could [the dog’s] response have been due to Mr McColl opening the shed door and being released from the shed, owing to the fact there was a perceived intruder, attacking that person?”
Mr Davidson replied: “That could possibly happen.”
But when prosecutor David Birrell questioned him again, the expert maintained the dog was hungry and said that may have been the reason for the attack. He said: “I believe that may have been the main cause for this dog to act in the way it did.”
The jury heard a statement from Mr McColl’s daughter Joanne Percival, who said her father was frail, walked at a “shuffle” and was not the sort of man to cut through strangers’ property.
She said: “If he had ever used any kind of shortcut he would have told us what way he walked.”
Jurors heard toxicology evidence showing Mr McColl had 89mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, with a report saying that level would be expected to cause “mild intoxication”.
The trial has also heard from Mr Davidson, Merseyside Police’s dog legislation officer, who said in his opinion Toretto had not been fed for “probably a good 10 hours” before the attack. He told jurors no dog food was found in the animal’s stomach and said hunger in dogs can manifest itself as aggression.
Garner confirmed in evidence that he owned Toretto and Malibu, and told the court he fed and watered them. He told jurors dogs had been his “life” and that he had previously bred and promoted them online, including through an Instagram page.
Garner added: “If my dog showed aggression I wouldn’t have had it around my kids.” He also sought to explain messages raised by the prosecution, telling the court phrases such as the dog being “missing a few nuts and bolts” were “just a figure of speech”.
The trial continues.
