Jail for owner of rampaging dogs

The owner of two out-of-control dogs which savaged ten people in a "horrific and nightmarish" street attack has been jailed for 12 months.

Unemployed father-of-one Spencer Brown, 22, pleaded guilty to ten counts of owning dogs which were dangerously out of control in a public place.

The attacks happened after Brown's Staffordshire bull terrier crosses Tilly and Freak escaped from his home in Marline Road, St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, on 22 July.

Passers-by suffered bites to their hands, arms and legs as the two dogs marauded around the area, while those who came to the victims' aid were also bitten.

Jailing Brown at Lewes Crown Court yesterday, Judge Anthony Scott-Gall said they were "grave and quite horrific" offences which had left victims "savagely mauled".

The sentencing comes days after new guidelines were brought in for judges dealing with owners of dangerously out-of-control dogs which harm others in public. The new guidelines mean tougher sentences which could see more offenders jailed or given community orders and fewer discharged.