A mum who left her XL bullies in a park and went home to continue boozing after one of the dogs bit a woman in the face has been spared jail.
Amanda Wilkie had taken her former boyfriend’s pets, Mavis and Missy, out for a walk after she had been drinking at a funeral.
But they then broke loose and began attacking other dogs and their owners. In spite of them leaving two women injured at the scene, the 44-year-old left without the XL bullies and instead carried on consuming alcohol at home.
Liverpool Crown Court heard yesterday, Thursday, that Wilkie had taken Mavis and Missy out for a walk on Willow Park in Newton-le-Willows shortly after 6pm on August 17 last year.
However, both dogs managed to break free of their leads before biting members of the public and their pets ‘several times’ as the victims desperately attempted to fight them off.
Simran Garcha, prosecuting, outlined how they attacked one woman and her dogs before approaching Christine Potts and Tracey Hayhurst, who were sitting on a bench. Mavis then bit the former on the face as she sought to protect her 17-year-old West Highland terrier.
Ms Potts sustained injuries to her lip and finger as a result, later requiring hospital treatment. She and Ms Hayhurst picked up their dogs and placed them on top of a bin in order to protect them, although the XL bullies continued their attempts to attack.
Wilkie, of Southworth Road in Newton, was said to have attempted to move Mavis and Missy away while stating that ‘they were not her dogs and did not belong to her’.
The 44-year-old was described as ‘appearing to be drunk’ and ‘slurring her words’ at this stage.
Ms Potts and Ms Hayhurst ultimately managed to get out of the area with their dogs and sought refuge in a nearby van. But the XL bullies then turned their attentions to Jacqueline Mahoney, who ‘heard a woman screaming for help’ upon entering the park with her own dog.
The woman was Wilkie, and warned her not to proceed up a set of steps within the park due to ‘dogs being aggressive in the area. But Mavis and Missy then also attacked her dog as the defendant attempted to intervene.
Ms Mahoney’s pet ran away as a result and she grabbed one of the XL bullies by the collar. This however ’caused her to tumble’ and she was then ‘dragged around due to the weight an power of the XL bully’.
Police officers arrived at the scene to discover that Wilkie had left, leaving both of her dogs behind.
When belatedly interviewed on January 2 this year, she told detectives that the dogs became ‘free’ after which she ‘went back home to retrieve strong collars and leads’.
But she then ‘had a number of alcoholic drinks and did not return to retrieve the dogs’. Wilkie accepted that she had possession of the dogs, but said they both belonged to her ex-partner, Mark Coxhill.
Ms Hayhurst was left with bruising to her arms and legs and a chipped tooth as a result of the incident, while her dog ‘received bite marks’. Mr Mahoney meanwhile suffered from bruises and scratches with her dog sustaining puncture wounds.
In a statement which was read to the court on her behalf, Ms Potts said: ‘I don’t take my dogs out now like I used to, and only on the odd occasion. Even then, I find it so hard.
‘What used to be a pleasure, being outside and enjoying nature, isn’t any more. I don’t think my mental wellbeing will ever be the same. I have flashbacks and nightmares and often cry out in my sleep. I used to love Willow Park, but I’ve not been able to go back there since.
‘I’ve been a huge dog lover since I was a child, but now I’m terrified of big dogs. I can’t stop thinking the worst that could have happened. I used to be a positive person. This incident has taken away my love of the outside and being out in nature with my dog and my sense of feeling safe and secure.’
Wilkie has one previous conviction for inflicting grievous bodily harm against Mr Coxhill in relation to an incident on April 14 2023. This saw her handed a 15-month imprisonment suspended for two years in October last year.
She owns three other dogs – a French bulldog called Dolly, Billy the Shih Tzu and a French bulldog Shih Tzu cross named Fifi. Louise Santamera, defending, told the court: ‘She says she tried to speak to the police at the time and asked them to make arrangements to remove Missy and Mavis, because they were not her dogs and she was not allowed to contact him.
‘On the date of the offence, she had been to a family funeral and returned home in a hurry to take the dogs out for a walk because they had not been walked at all that day. She accepts that she had a couple of drinks at the funeral but does not accept that she was staggeringly drunk.
‘She picked up some older leads rather than the newer leads, which were much stronger. She took them a short distance to the park to give them a walk.
‘As she entered the park, another dog started barking at them and this caused Missy to slip the lead. In fact, the lead snapped. The other dog ran off after her. She does accept that she should have been more responsible and she should have put them on the stronger leads.
‘She said she left the park after trying to retrieve both of the dogs, trying her best to get them back under control. Realising that she couldn’t, she went home because she was afraid.’
The defence also said at the time, she had an alcohol problem and had been in a ‘toxic and abusive relationship with Mr Coxhill’.
Ms Santamera added: ‘She has now been sober for eight months. The previous abusive relationship was the underlying cause of her alcohol problem.
‘It would be, in my submission, a great pity if she was now to be sentenced to immediate custody. All of the hard work and effort she has made would be undone.
‘She understands that the offences have caused immense physical and mental distress, and she is sorry for any pain she has caused. This incident in the park that day is a one-off incident in her ability to look after and care for dogs.’
Wilkie admitted two counts of being in charge of a dangerously out of control dog causing injury and two charges of being in charge of a dangerously out of control dog.
She was handed a 10-month imprisonment suspended for two years with 200 hours of unpaid work and a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 10 days.
Sentencing, Judge Brian Cummings KC said: ‘I am dealing with not one but two dangerous dogs, two sizeable dogs, and two human victims – not including the dogs who were injured. Your conduct on this occasion represented a catalogue of irresponsibility.
‘You are not a big person. You are a slight woman, so far as I can see. You went out with two large dogs. You had no proper collars or leads.
‘It is only fair to acknowledge that your progress in respect of the community elements of the suspended sentence order has been described as excellent. If you were in breach of the suspended sentence order, of course you would be going to prison. There would be no doubt about it, but that is not the position. In my judgement, the balance in this case just comes through in your favour.’
Wilkie was also told to pay £500 in compensation to Ms Potts and £300 to Ms Mahoney.
Rulings on whether she will be banned from keeping animals and a destruction order concerning the two XL bullies will be given on August 27 in order to allow Mr Coxhill to make representations to the judge.
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