'Sweetest' boy, 10, mauled to death by bulldog called Beast as owners face jail

5 May 2022, 20:41 | Updated: 5 May 2022, 21:10

A man and a woman have admitted to being responsible for a dog which fatally mauled "the sweetest" 10-year-old schoolboy.

Jack Lis, 10, was killed after being attacked by a bulldog - called Beast - while playing at a friend's house in Caerphilly on November 8 last year.

Brandon Hayden, 19, and Amy Salter, 28, were accused of being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control causing injury resulting in death.

It was also revealed the American bulldog injured two other people just days before the attack.

Appearing in Cardiff Crown Court on Thursday, the defendants admitted the charges.

Brandon Hayden also admitted a further three counts of being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control and two counts of being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control causing injury.

The charges were five counts of being in charge of a dangerously out of control dog – three of which related to incidents on November 4 last year.

On the same day, the bulldog Beast caused injury to Michael Ball, and a few days later, Sian Sullivan suffered similar injuries.

During the trial, the judge told Hayden he's likely to face prison.

Read More: Dog which fatally attacked two-year-old child confirmed as a Rottweiler by police

In a statement, Jack's family said: "We are absolutely heartbroken. Our lives will never be the same without Jack. This is not something any parent should ever have to be writing. We have so many words we want to say about our beautiful boy but they do not seem enough.

“We love him more than words can describe. Our boy made us the proudest parents and family on the planet. He was the sweetest of boys.

"We will forever miss his quirky ways and his stories that he would spend so long telling us. He's forever in our hearts. Sweet dreams Jack, our perfect boy.”

The dog was shot and killed by armed police, and it was later confirmed that it was not a banned breed in the UK.

The Dangerous Dog Act (1991) was a bill that prohibited certain types of dogs and codified the criminal offence of allowing a dog of any breed to be dangerously out of control.

Read More: Father jailed over Doncaster dog attack which killed 12-day-old baby

The current list includes: Pit Bull Terrier, Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino, Fila Brasileiro. It does not contain the same breed as Beast - an American bulldog.

It follows a spate of dog attacks in recent months, including two other fatal incidents in March.

Bella-Rae Birch died after an attack from her family's dog in St Helens, and Kyra Leanne King, a three month old girl, was attacked by an out-of-control dog on 6 March.

One high profile case included Elon Jase Ellis-Joynes, a 12-day old baby, was killed by a Chow Chow Alsatian-cross at his home in Doncaster last year after his father failed to train the dog properly.

Brandon Hayden and Amy Salter are set to be sentenced June 10.