Man savaged by brother in law's dog

A court heard today how a man was seriously savaged by a dog set on him by his own brother-in-law.

The two men had spent the day drinking together when an argument developed and Geoffrey Seaborn ordered his Staffordshire bull terrier to attack him.

He told the dog, called Boss, to attack Guiseppe Vanchieri, saying "get him Boss" and the animal obeyed by going for him.

Mr Vanchieri suffered severe puncture wounds to his right upper arm and more painful bites to his abdomen and when police arrived at his home in Lowton, where Seaborn had been temporarily living, they found Mr Vanchieri bleeding profusely and blood over the lounge.

55-year-old Seaborn had gone up to bed as if nothing had happened but the emergency services had been called by friends who had been drinking with the two men.

The victim was taken to hospital where he needed numerous stitches in the wounds and had to have plastic surgery to his arm and was told he might be left with loss of sensation in his hand, said Carmel Wilde, prosecuting.

Seaborn, of Mersey Street, Leigh, pleaded guilty at Liverpool Crown Court to wounding on New Year's Eve last year.

When arrested after the incident in Lindisfarne Avenue, Lowton, Seaborn admitted he had been drunk and said he could not remember what had happened.

The court heard that there was no personal impact statement from the victim but the two men were still on speaking terms.

Jailing Seaborn for nine months Judge Robert Warnock said, "You set your dog onto your brother-in-law. The consequences were horrendous. He lost a considerable amount of blood."

He told him that he had a serious alcohol problem and the offence clearly crossed the custody threshold.

Philip Martin, defending, said that Seaborn apologised for his behaviour. He urged the judge not to jail him saying that he needed help for his alcohol dependency problem.

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