Man gets 10 years in prison for owning dog who killed neighbour

In a bizarre ruling, a 30-year-old man was jailed for 10 years because of his pet bull terrier, who killed his neighbour in 2016, reported The Guardian.

The man named Aaron Joseph was the owner of the dog that killed his 52-year-old neighbour David Ellam.

Ellam died while saving his own pet from Joseph’s terrier in August 2016, in West Yorkshire.

He sustained serious injuries and after 12 hours succumbed to them at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary.

Police had taken the dog into custody after it attacked two people earlier, however, he was returned to the owner after it was determined it wasn’t of a banned breed.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission launched an investigation after Ellam’s death.

Judge Sally Cahill while giving sentence to Joseph said that his offence was nothing short of ‘horrendous’.

“Because of your arrogance, this dog, which should have been carefully and strictly controlled, was kept in circumstances whereby she was able to escape and attack Mr Ellam.

“You did things and failed to do things which in my judgment were not minimal, they were the root cause of this death. You could have muzzled Alex. That one simple act, in compliance with the court order, would have prevented this tragedy,” the judge was quoted as saying by the publication.