A dangerous dog owner has been jailed for two years after his banned pitbull cross ‘scalped’ a 18-month-old baby.

Michael Thornton, 27, and his girlfriend Hayley Eldridge’s dog Max mauled the infant in a children’s park where dogs were not allowed.

Police shot Max, who was a banned breed, dead.

Michael Thornton, 27, and his girlfriend Hayley Eldridge’s dog Max mauled the infant in a children’s park where dogs were not allowed (Picture: PA)

The pair admitted paying a 15-year-old girl cannabis to walk him but only Eldridge, 29, appeared for sentencing last month.


A judge blasted Thornton, of Chatham, Kent, after he was arrested 27 days later and hauled before Maidstone Crown Court.

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He admitted the owner of a dog which caused injury to a child while dangerously out of control in a public place on April 4 last year and breaching his court bail conditions.



Judge David Griffith-Jones QC said: ‘You didn’t have the guts to turn up to your sentencing hearing.

‘This was deliberate behaviour on your part in an attempt to delay the inevitable day of reckoning.

‘Included in your appalling previous history are numerous offences of failing to surrender or other failures to comply with court orders.’

Police shot Max, who was a banned breed, dead (Picture: Steve Finn Photography)

His girlfriend Eldridge, however, admitted and was jailed for 21 months for owning Max and 16 weeks consecutive for perjury at the hearing on October 10 (Picture: PA)

Thornton was jailed for two years for dangerous dog offence with a consecutive four weeks for his breach of bail.

John Fitzgerald, defending, said Thornton did not have the courage to attend for sentence after he was arrested over the dog attack.

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His girlfriend Eldridge, however, admitted and was jailed for 21 months for owning Max and 16 weeks consecutive for perjury at the hearing on October 10.

Prosecutor Catherine Donnelly said the child’s scalp could not be replaced and left her skull exposed.

The scalp could not be reattached because blood vessels had died and she was too young for ‘large muscle’ and skin grafts from other areas of her body.

Judge David Griffith-Jones QC said when sentencing Eldridge: ‘Frankly, an idiot in a hurry would know such a dog should be looked after with the greatest care and circumspection because of the forseeability of such a dog running amok.

‘It was utter folly, and showed reckless disregard, to the public to place such a dog in the charge of a child, aged only 15.’