John McColl died after being savaged by a dog which had to be shot 10 times with a Glock pistol and shotgun
John McColl died after being savaged by a dog which had to be shot 10 times with a Glock pistol and shotgun
A police officer labelled a pensioner’s injuries the “worst he has ever seen in his career” after he was “savaged” by an XL bully who then behaved “as if it was guarding a toy it had just ripped apart”. The dog, called Toretto, had to be shot 10 times by firearms officers after killing 84-year-old John McColl, a jury at Liverpool Crown Court heard.
It came after the seemingly “confused” OAP mistakenly entered the driveway of alleged “irresponsible” owner Sean Garner’s then home on Bardsley Avenue in Warrington while on his way home from the pub. Neighbours attempted to stave off the attack using a brush, a golf club and a spirit level but to no avail as the banned breed “guarded” the elderly victim “as if he were its prey or its food”.
Garner, now of Dinaro Close in Belle Vale, was meanwhile said to have “made jokes while doctors were valiantly trying to save Mr McColl’s life”, having earlier described his pet as “missing a few nuts and bolts”. The 31-year-old, an alleged XL bully breeder, is currently on trial accused of causing Mr McColl’s death by being the owner of a dangerously out of control dog.
Jurors were yesterday played distressing footage from the body worn cameras of police officers who attended the scene, in which the dog could be seen standing beside a screaming Mr McColl as a PC told him: “Stay still mate. We’re getting you some help.”
A series of statements were also read on behalf of officers who dealt with the incident. One, PC Chris Cunliffe, said in his account: “I drew my taser and slowly made my way across the garden entrance. I saw the male laying on the floor, covered in blood.
“The dog was laying down with its head facing Mr McColl and me and seemed to have a lot of blood over it. It was next to Mr McColl the full time we were there, sometimes moving only feet away from him then also back to lying next to him. I can only describe the dog’s behaviour as if guarding its toy that it had just ripped apart.
“I couldn’t get close to Mr McColl, as I believe this would have set the dog off to attack. Mr McColl would shout ‘help’ every so often. His voice was unclear, as if struggling to speak. The sound of Mr McColl’s screams was horrific. I could do nothing to help him. Mr McColl would randomly shout for help. I don’t believe he even knew we were there. He couldn’t see or hear us.”
The officer recalled that armed officers arrived after around 15 minutes but added: “This seemed like so much longer. Watching an adult male lying in his own blood…is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life.
“I knew that, as soon as we got hold of Mr McColl, the dog would react. As we started to pull him, the dog came for us immediately. This is when firearms officers shot it a number of times while we pulled Mr McColl to safety. The dog could have attacked all of the officers there, Mr McColl or the public onlooking.
“It was clear that these were the worst injuries I’ve ever seen in my policing career. I’ve been in policing eight years and have never seen or heard of an incident so horrifying, and I don’t think I ever will.”
Firearms officer PC Mark Brameld meanwhile said of his arrival at the scene: “The scene was chaotic, with officers trying to engage with the victim but unable to get close due to the dog. He was screaming.
“I could clearly see that he was in need of urgent medical assistance, but, if we went towards the victim, it would attack us. I gave officers instructions that we were going to move forwards and step over the victim. They were going to use our shield and extract the victim under our cover.
“As the officers have touched the victim, the dog’s behaviour instantly changed. I believed, at this point, that the dog was moving towards myself, my colleagues or the victim to carry on the attack. I took the immediate decision to fire my Glock and neutralise the threat.
“I fired seven shots. This initially put the dog down and stopped it moving. It started to move. I fired two more rounds to humanely dispatch the dog. I was also aware that a shotgun had also been discharged by Constable Edwards. I have stayed on aim, covering the dog for around 30 seconds to ensure that it was neutralised.”
Constable William Edwards added in his statement: “I could hear the male groaning and shouting for help. I’ve loaded and made ready my shotgun with seven shells. I heard several shots being fired. I immediately ran back and saw the dog had been shot with a number of rounds.
“The male had been dragged from his location near to the dog. I saw the dog was still alive and tried to get back to its feet. As the dog was still alive but now injured, I decided to fire my shotgun to dispatch the dog to prevent a threat to myself, other officers and members of the public. I fired a number of rounds into the animal, which immediately dispatched it.”
A second, female XL bully was thereafter found within the kitchen of the same property. Constable Christopher McDonagh reported that this dog was also shot dead in order to allow a search of the address “to ensure that there were no other victims inside”, with a third, “older pocket bully type dog” being removed from the house.
David Birrell, prosecuting, previously told the jury of eight men and four women that Mr McColl had “for some reason, wandered into the defendant’s driveway” at around 6pm on February 24 last year. He added in his opening: “We will never know why he did it. Perhaps he was confused. He had been to the pub, although he had not had very much to drink. We will never know.
“What we do know is that, after he entered the defendant’s driveway, the dog attacked him, and it just would not let him go. People tried to help him, grown men with weapons, hitting the dog. But it was no use. The dog would not let him go. The dog guarded him as if he were its prey. It savaged him.
“The police were called, and they arrived on the scene quickly. But the first police officers, who were unarmed, could not get to Mr McColl. Firearms officers came with guns. They had to shoot the dog. They had to shoot it 10 times.”
Mr Birrell detailed how one officer was required to shoot the XL bully nine times with a pistol while another blasted the “large, savage dog” with a shotgun. PCs thereafter also shot dead a second, female XL bully which was found on the property so as to “not to take any chances”.
Meanwhile, Mr McColl was rushed to hospital but died a month later from his injuries.
Police reportedly attempted to contact Garner and asked him to return home during a phone call, but he was instead said to have “avoided police” as family members messaged him “advising him to lie”. Mr Birrell added of these texts: “He made light of the situation. He was making jokes while doctors were valiantly trying to save John McColl’s life. He avoided the police for two days before he handed himself in.”
Garner, who appeared suited in the dock, was then said to have “lied” under interview, having claimed that the dog had “never shown any sign of aggression”, although Toretto was evidenced to have fought with the other XL bully, Malibu, and injured the defendant’s mother previously. He also claimed that the dog was not an XL bully, although he “now admits that”.
Mr Birrell said: “In this trial, he is likely to tell you more lies. He is likely to claim that he kept the dog in a tool shed or something like that. We will hear evidence from a neighbour and from a police dog expert, who tells us that the dog was not kept in a tool shed but was kept on a patio. It was covered in dog faeces, dog poo. All there was keeping the dog on that patio was a metal gate with a latch.”
While Garner claimed under interview that the gate was “locked with a bolt”, Mr Birrell told the court: “There was no bolt, just that latch that we can see. We say that this dog, this large, powerful dog, could very easily have pawed that latch. We say that is probably what happened.
“However the dog got out, after it got out, it was dangerously out of control. And, whilst it was dangerously out of control, it attacked and it killed Mr McColl, and we say that the defendant is responsible.
“He is responsible because he kept the dog when he knew it was dangerous. He knew that it had fought with other dogs and hurt people. We will see text messages where he said that it was ‘missing a few nuts and bolts’, and yet he kept it.
“He is responsible because he did not feed the dog properly. A police dog expert will tell us that the dog had not been fed for some time. There was no food in its stomach. The expert will tell us that, if dogs are left hungry, then they can become irritable and aggressive. The expert will tell us that the dog appeared to be guarding Mr McColl as if he were its prey or its food.
“We say that he was an irresponsible dog owner. He did not have an exemption certificate for the dog. He did not have a certificate for the other XL bully either. Despite that, he was breeding these dogs. He was breeding more illegal XL bullies to make money. Irresponsible, we say, reckless.
“In this trial, he might try to argue that Mr McColl was somehow to blame for entering his driveway. There is no doubt that John McColl entered his driveway. That does not excuse what happened. It does not absolve him of responsibility.
“All sorts of people might enter your driveway. Postmen, Amazon delivery drivers, political canvassers, children chasing balls. The possibilities are endless. But it is not acceptable for your dog to attack someone and to kill them just because they enter your driveway.
“The defendant admits he was the owner of the dog. He admits that the dog was dangerously out of control, and he admits that the dog injured John McColl, and John McColl died as a result of his injuries, but he denies that he is responsible. He says that is not his fault, not at all, not in the slightest. He says, and his case is, that he took reasonable steps to keep the dog under control. That is his case, and that is what you have to decide in this trial.”
Garner, who is represented by Lloyd Morgan, denies being the owner of a dog which caused injury while dangerously out of control, having pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of a dog of a banned breed without an exemption certificate. The trial, before Brian Cummings KC, continues.
