Dogsey

A man whose dog fatally injured a woman has admitted to keeping the dog in cramped conditions, which may have contributed to the death of Barbara Williams on 23rd December last year. Alex Blackburn-Smith, the owner of D-bo the Neapolitan mastiff - who weighed 8st and measured 1.24m long - admitted that he kept the dog in a cage measuring just 1.06m.

Crown prosecution lawyer Nicola Wood said: “the circumstances in which the Neapolitan Mastiff was kept has led, the Crown say, in part, to the incident in which she was attacked by the dog. He was being kept in a cage too small for him."

Mrs Williams, who rented a room from Mr Blackburn-Smith at the time, suffered serious injuries to her neck and bled to death at the scene. D-bo was shot by police officers on scene.