The owner of an XL Bully has been convicted of being in possession of a dog dangerously out of control following a 4-day trial at Oxford Crown Court. Prosecuted by second six pupil Georgina Kuponiyi, the jury heard evidence that the dog escaped from a cage and caused serious injuries to three teenagers, one of whom sustained life-changing injuries.
The central issue at trial was whether the defendant had committed acts or omissions which permitted the dog to become dangerously out of control. The defence maintained that the dog had been securely confined, had never previously escaped, and had no history of aggression. The trial involved disputed eyewitness evidence, expert animal behavioural evidence, and several contested evidential issues. Georgina successfully applied to admit previously unused expert behavioural evidence, which became a significant feature of the prosecution case, and successfully argued for the admission of hearsay evidence relating to the dog’s aggressive behaviour and the reasons it was routinely kept caged.
During the defence case, a witness raised factual matters which had not previously been disclosed in interview, nor contained within the Defence Case Statement. This necessitated an application to recall a prosecution witness to address those matters in rebuttal, which was successful. The defendant will be sentenced in August.
Georgina accepts work across all practice areas, and both prosecutes and defends in the criminal courts.