Officer denies police dog scarred 13-year-old boy for life

Central Scotland Police: PC Linda McBride faces a charge that the police dog was out of control.© STV

A boy who was allegedly attacked by a police dog has told a court the animal appeared to react to a scream.

Falkirk Sheriff Court heard on Tuesday the alleged attack at Mungal Farm in Falkirk, left the boy severely injured, permanently impaired and disfigured.

Police constable Linda McBride, an award winning handler for Central Scotland Police, denies the dog Lux was dangerously out of control.

The alleged victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, said the dog attacked him after reacting to "a scream" from one of his teenage cousins, who is scared of dogs.

He said: "It was about eight o'clock at night and I had been playing with my three cousins, and we were just walking home.

"We then saw the police dog coming over the hill, it looked like a mix between an Alastian and a German shepherd.

"It was just standing there, but my cousin screamed. It started running towards, so we tried to run away from it but it caught me. It bit me and pulled me down to the ground, holding onto my arm. It felt like it was on me for about 20 seconds but I was pretty upset so it's hard to remember exactly what happened."

The boy, who has since turned 14, said McBride's husband Brendan was first at the scene.

He said: "Linda McBride's husband came down to try and get it off me. After the dog was off, he got my jacket off and put it into a sling. He then took me back to the house. They were both being apologetic about what happened to me. I was taken to hospital later on because of what happened to my arm."

Mr McBride said earlier that Lux was kept in a kennel in their back garden, and that Central Scotland Police paid his wife an allowance to look after the dog.

David Hunter, defending McBride, asked her husband about the incident where he kicked Lux. Mr Hunter said: "Lux is trained not to let go of people that hurt him, is that correct?" Mr McBride replied: "Yes that is correct.

McBride, denies a single charge of being in charge of a licensed police dog which was dangerously out of control on April 3 last year. She denies that the dog ran after and bit the boy on the body and pulled him to the ground, and that the boy was severely injured, and permanently disfigured and impaired in the incident.

The trial, before Sheriff Gerard MacMillan sitting alone has been adjourned until the 4th of July.

People who read this story also read