Client acquitted in dangerous dogs case

Our client faced a single count of being the person in charge of a dog which caused injury while being dangerously out of control. In 2023, our client’s dog had got out of the house and bitten a postman on the front path of our client’s home.

Our client is a man of good character, a respected professional and a father of three. On 24 April, he was acquitted following a three-day trial at Harrow Crown Court.

Our client’s case was that his front door had been left open by a gas engineer. When he heard his dog barking, he ran outside after it and was sure he would have prevented the incident had the postman not made the disproportionate decision to grab our client at the critical moment, preventing him from getting hold of his dog.

The case involved substantial legal argument about the directions to be given as to the meaning of "dangerously out of control", the degree to which liability is strict in the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 offences, and the law on new intervening acts by complainants who act foolishly or disproportionately whilst seeking to avoid harm.

David Sonn was the solicitor with conduct of this case. He was assisted by his paralegal, Sophie Drake. Samuel March of 9KBW was instructed.