Man whose XL Bullies savaged family dog avoids jail ‘by a whisker’

A Brighton man whose XL Bullies ripped a woman’s beloved pet dog to pieces in front of her and her son has been ordered to pay her £1,000 in compensation.

Dean Bryce’s dogs broke out of his garden in Mackie Avenue while Caroline Freeman was walking her dog Rolo, a court heard today.

Hove Crown Court was told the same two dogs, Simba and Coco, had attacked another dog the previous year, but had escaped destruction.

The dog in that case survived, and the incident was dealt with by way of a community resolution.

Prosecuting, Harriet Bennett said the attack happened on 13 April, 2024 at about 8pm when one of the two XL Bullies broke out of Bryce’s garden and attacked Rolo, a poodle jackapoo mix.

Mrs Freeman shouted and screamed at it to get off, and the defendant came out and tried to restrain it, eventually getting it back inside the house.

But then the other dog ran out and started attacking Rolo. Mrs Freeman and a passer-by, David Cowell, tried in vain to stop it. Mrs Freeman was bitten while trying to prise the dog’s jaws open.

By the time Rolo reached the vets, he had died. When police arrived, Bryce had removed the dogs to another location, but after negotiation, he agreed to give them to the police dog handler and that they should both be destroyed, which they subsequently were.

The police initially decided to take no further action, but this decision was overturned after an appeal, the court heard, and Bryce was charged with two counts of owning a dangerously out of control dog.

He initially pleaded not guilty, but changed his plea on the first day he was due to stand trial.

In a victim impact statement, Mrs Freeman said Rolo was a loving and fun dog who made the family laugh every day and went everywhere with them.

She said: “I try not to remember the details of the day he was killed. for months afterwards, I have walked miles and listened to podcasts but the images can suddenly come back to make me feel sick and upset.

“I feel really guilty that I wasn’t able to protect him and I failed him. He must have felt such pain and terror.

“But I read about XL Bullies who have killed adults and I feel scared imagining what could have happened to me.

“I’ve seen XL Bullies a couple of times since the attack and it’s like feeling a kick to the stomach.”

She also thanked her local community, who had supported the family with flowers and cards.

Defending, Bianca Brasoveanu said Bryce had rehomed the dogs from his son. She said: “He took care of them instead of selling them to buyers who he perceived would train them for unlawful purposes.

“He looked after them in the best way he could, training them in private fields. He had made improvements to the garden, including extending the fencing.”

She said that although Bryce, 53, had 30 previous convictions for 109 offences, none of these were relevant and the most recent was from 2012, indicating he had turned his life around.

Sentencing, Judge Jeremy Gold KC said: “These dogs are potential weapons. They are vicious and they can cause very serious injury.

“The distress that was felt by Rolo’s owner was made clear.

“One can only imagine how distressing that can be to see your beloved pet literally torn to pieces in front of you by two dogs which were clearly out of control.

“To your credit, you came out to assist but it didn’t help the poor dog which was in the jaws of one of your dogs.”

He sentenced him to nine months in prison for each of the two charges, to run concurrently, but suspended the sentence for two years.

He also ordered him to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work and pay Mrs Freeman £1,000 compensation as well as £705 in court costs at the rate of £200 a month.

Bryce, who has since moved to South Norwood in south London, was also banned from owning dogs for five years.

Judge Gold told Bryce: “You have come within a whisker of going into custody.”