A nine-year-old girl has been left scarred after she was attacked by a banned dog.
The girl was playing with a friend in Stamford Hill on May 5 last year when she was attacked by a brown Pit Bull dog.
The dog jumped on her and bit her on the leg multiple times, leaving bite marks and scars.
On Thursday (October 3, 2024) the dog’s owner, 22-year-old Berkan Erecer, appeared at London’s dogs court, Willesden Magistrates’ Court.
He pleaded guilty to possession of a fighting dog and being the owner of a dog that was dangerously out of control and caused injury.
Prosecutor Edward Kalber summarised the young girl’s account of the attack.
She and a friend had been to get an ice cream then went to a communal area outside her friend’s house to play.
She was playing with a bubble dispenser, which she said might have been what caused the dog to act in the way it did.
The dog ran at her and bit her knee from behind, then jumped on her and bit her leg multiple times.
“I tried getting up but didn’t want to run away but didn’t because I thought the dog would chase me,” she said.
Eventually two brothers came and helped – one pulled the dog off while the other put her on his shoulders and took her to her friend’s mum.
She said of her injuries: “At first I was really scared, I had to have Calpol every night and morning for the pain.
“It affected me because when me and my friends go outside we have to go away from where it happened.”
She added that she’s now “nervous and scared” when she sees her dog.
Mr Kalber also summarised a victim statement from the girl’s mum, who said her daughter began hiding behind her when she sees dog.
But she added that recently: “She has become very brave, and although she won’t go near dogs she won’t hide behind me anymore.”
The court heard that this is the first time Erecer, of Stamford Hill, has been convicted of an offence.
The dog has since been seized and prosecutors intend to apply for a destruction order.
Chair of the bench of magistrates Sheila Darr adjourned sentencing until November.
Erecer was released on bail with instructions not to contact the girl or her family.
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