JAIL FOR PIT BULL DAD WHO PUT THE BITE ON HIS EX-GIRLFRIEND

A father-of-two screamed ‘Bite her, bite her’ as he watched his ex-partner’s dog tear a chunk out of her ear, a court heared.

Carlton Griffiths, 39, set pit-bull ‘Rage’ on to his former lover Karla Galvin after he punched her to the pavement.

Ms Galvin lost a 3cm piece of her ear and suffered cuts to her head from where the animal’s razor-sharp teeth pierced the skin.

The attack came just hours after Griffiths had punched, kicked and head-butted his ex-partner at her home and left her bleeding on the floor.

Southwark Crown Court heard today (FRI) he had then gone to look for her beloved pet after beating Ms Galvin to the ground.

When he found the dog he was met in the street by Ms Galvin and he unleashed the animal on her.

Jailing Griffiths for three-and-a-half years the Judge, Mr Recorder Phillip Bartle QC, said: ‘Instead of giving her the dog back you punched her to the ground and yelled ‘Bite her, bite her’.

‘The dog grabbed her head and bit off part of her ear.

‘It must have been a terrifying incident that resulted in her losing a 3cm area of cartilage from her ear, that she later had to have surgery on to rebuild that part of her face.

‘The bite to her head pierced her skin and she spent three days in hospital.’

The court heard the incident took place in Sainsbury Road, Norwood, in south-east London, in the early hours of October 14, 2010 shortly after the couple had fought at Ms Galvin’s home.

The couple had been in a relationship for four-and-a-half years but had been separated for 12 months.

Ms Galvin was described as ‘very attached’ to Rage, her brown pit-bull and the court heard the dog had not previously been aggressive.

Recorder Bartle said to Griffiths: ‘You became aggressive; firstly verbally and then physically.

‘You were asked to leave but refused.

‘You then kicked her in the leg, you punched her in the face and grabbed her around the throat so that you were strangling her.

‘You then kicked her in the stomach and head-butted her, leaving her with a bleeding nose.’

Reading from Ms Galvin’s victim impact statement he said that the incident had had a huge impact on her and that she said that sometimes she became so frightened that she would lock herself in her room and not speak to anyone for days.  

Griffiths of (Flat 21) Enfield House, in Stockwell Road, Stockwell, south-west London, was convicted at Inner London Crown Court of unlawful wounding, common assault and being in charge of a dog which caused injury while dangerously out of control in a public place.

Recorder Bartle ordered that the dog be destroyed, though the court heard the animal had apparently ‘disappeared’ since the incident.

Griffiths was banned from keeping a dog for five years.

ENDS

DOB 19/11/72