Brighton man jailed for dog attack

A man whose dogs mauled his friend to within an inch of his life has been jailed.

The Staffordshire bull terrier and bull mastiff cross of Geoff Clark attacked the man on Brighton beach.

Clark, 41, of Horton Road, Brighton, was walking along the beach with a friend on May 18 last year when the two dogs attacked the second man.

Witnesses told how the pair continued to maul the man after he had passed out in the sea.

With the dogs out of control, passers-by called the police and a dog unit and armed response team were on the scene in minutes.

But paramedics were unable to get to the injured man until the dogs were subdued.

One officer received bite wounds to his leg and hand and was taken to hospital. The dogs were later put down.

The victim was in hospital in a critical condition for three weeks and is still receiving specialist treatment.

When Clark was arrested he was found to be carrying drugs and a knife.

Jack Le-Flay, 20, from Henfield, witnessed the “barbaric” attack as he was returning from a night out.

He said at the time: “We could see these two dogs dragging something out of the water.

"At first we thought it might have been a police training exercise or an old tyre but then we could see a leg. The dogs would run back to their owner and then rush back and start attacking the man again.”

At Hove Crown Court Clark was jailed for 12 months for allowing his dogs to be dangerously out of control in a public place, having ketamine and a bladed weapon. He was also banned from owning a dog indefinitely.

Comments(11)

rudyslayer says...
4:10pm Fri 8 Mar 13

12 Months wat a pitifull sentence. Just the fact he had drugs and a knife would warrant 12 months.

Metro Reader says...
4:11pm Fri 8 Mar 13

Censorship at the Argus, all the comments removed, what is it Argus – unable to take criticism for the poor level of reporting?

raymondo999 says...
4:16pm Fri 8 Mar 13

How exactly has this article been updated apart from removing all comments on previous version?

Angryoldman says...
4:23pm Fri 8 Mar 13

He should have got ten years. The judge should be sacked!

NickBrt says...
5:29pm Fri 8 Mar 13

When I saw the word 'dog' in the headline I thought it was another article about Katie Price.

Somethingsarejustwrong says...
8:32pm Fri 8 Mar 13

This whole story again confirms why the scum class needs eradicating.

P.Dant says...
8:42pm Fri 8 Mar 13

They say Chris Huhne could get 18 months for passing off his speeding points.

Somethingsarejustwrong says...
9:51pm Fri 8 Mar 13

P.Dant wrote:
They say Chris Huhne could get 18 months for passing off his speeding points.
We should have the death penalty for this kind of offence

Somethingsarejustwrong says...
10:12pm Fri 8 Mar 13

P.Dant wrote:
They say Chris Huhne could get 18 months for passing off his speeding points.
We should have the death penalty for this kind of offence

John Steed says...
11:41am Sat 9 Mar 13

Somethingsarejustwro
ng
wrote:
P.Dant wrote:
They say Chris Huhne could get 18 months for passing off his speeding points.
We should have the death penalty for this kind of offence
where is the photo? the wider public have a right to see who this convicted felon is. particualy as the only way his indefinate ban on keeping a dog will only be monitored by the public if they are aware of who the ban applies to

StyleCop says...
10:06am Mon 11 Mar 13

Metro Reader wrote:
Censorship at the Argus, all the comments removed, what is it Argus – unable to take criticism for the poor level of reporting?
Winston Smith is clearly at large and working in the IT dept @ the Argus.

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