Couple sentenced after dog attacked woman in Rossett

Nicola Ouzman, of Bridgeway West in Runcorn, appeared for sentence at Mold Crown Court on Tuesday morning alongside her partner and co-defendant Bobby Ouzman, of Roding Lane North, Woodford Green.

Both defendants had previously admitted an offence of being an owner or person in charge of a dog which was dangerously out of control and injured a person.

Ryan Rothwell, prosecuting, told the court that on the evening of July 24 last year, a woman named Sarah Blaylock was walking her springer spaniel Wilf near Rossett Business Park.

All of a sudden she heard a female screaming to her right and turned to see a pit bull off a lead and charging at her and her dog.

Ms Blaylock ran, but the pit bull caught up and pinned her dog to the floor.

The pit bull, named Esco (or Escobar), belonged to the defendants and was subject to a contingent destruction order due to a previous offence.

As such, it was meant to be muzzled and on a lead in public.

As Esco attacked the victim's dog, the Ouzmans' second dog Cali, a black Cane Corso, appeared and bit Ms Blaylock on the leg - pinning her and causing excruciating pain.

Nicola Ouzman, 27, caught up first and removed one of the dogs, before Bobby Ouzman, 25, did the same.

They walked away with the animals, before Bobby Ouzman returned to the victim, who was seriously injured and bleeding.

But instead of helping, he picked up a mobile phone which had been dropped and fled the scene with his partner.

Ms Blaylock was helped only by the kindness of a passing stranger.

At A&E, it was discovered she had multiple bite injuries to her left leg; which required cleaning and closing with sutures.

In her statement, Ms Blaylock said the injury was so severe, doctors had to "push the muscle back in."

She required three further hospital appointments and in excess of 20 GP appointments before the wounds had healed.

Ms Blaylock explained in her victim statement how the incident resulted in "constant anxiety" - with her feeling "mentally incapable of going out and giving her dog a walk at all."

She described the whole ordeal as "a nightmare situation," with her knee remaining "problematic" even after healing.

A statement from police explained how cases of this nature are costly and time consuming for the force - in particular due to kennelling costs.

Between 2014 and 2021, the force spent more than £290,000 on kennelling alone in these types of cases - and £3,500 in the Ouzman case specifically.

Mr Rothwell said Nicola Ouzman knew she was being sought by police but tried to throw officers "off the scent" by selling her car.

Both she and her partner were apprehended, however, and accepted full responsibility.

Amy Edwards, defending Nicola Ouzman, said: "She understands the consequences of her actions on that day.

"On that occasion, the defendants took both dogs to the business park, where Mrs Ouzman worked.

"She believed, wrongfully, that no one would be there at that time and took them off the leads on a patch of grass.

"That's where, they thought, they had isolated the dogs."

She explained both defendants had "panicked"  after the attack and left the scene.

But she said her client claimed to have seen Mrs Blaylock "walk off" with her dog and claimed she hadn't seen the injury.

Judge Rhys Rowlands completely discounted the claim, saying: "Nonsense. She was streaming with blood - the injuries were horrendous."

He said such a claim was an insult to the court and to the victim.

The court heard Esco had already been euthanised at the instruction of Nicola Ouzman.

Clive Reece, defending Bobby Ouzman, agreed the dogs owned by the couple were large.

He said: "This can't be described as anything other than a serious and terrifying injury for this lady.

"My instructions on behalf of Bobby Ouzman are to express his profound and sincere remorse for what happened.

"In almost all of these cases, you have people who love dogs and, it seems to me, have a blind spot for the way those dogs behave.

"What an inexperienced couple like this are doing with dogs of this type baffles me, frankly.

"They took the dogs to exercise in a place they wrongly believed they would not come into contact with any other members of the community. It went wrong."

Judge Rowlands told the pair: "As a result of your gross irresponsibility and selfishness, putting the supposed interests of those large and potentially dangerous dogs above the wider community, the victim sustained quite appalling injuries.

RECOMMENDED READING

• Police chief's response after drugs gang jailed for 57 years
• Court: Wrexham man stole from neighbour who was in hospital

"Your intention was to get the dogs back and escape with them, with frankly no concerns shown at all for the victim."

Judge Rowlands opted to spare the pair immediate custody in order to impose compensation - which he said the victim might not otherwise have been eligible for as the dog wasn't used deliberately as a weapon.

Both defendants received an 18 month custodial term, suspended for 18 months - and a four month electronically monitored curfew.

They were also both banned from having custody of any dog for 10 years and must each pay £2,500 in compensation to Ms Blaylock.

A victim surcharge was ordered for both defendants at a rate of £187 and Judge Rowlands issued a destruction order for Cali.