Girl, 9, had tip of her nose bitten off in dog attack

A nine-year-old girl needed emergency surgery after a dog mauled her face, a court has heard.

The child’s mother described how the Staffordshire bull terrier pulled her daughter to the floor and bit off the tip of her nose at a flat in Glasgow in June 2022.

She was taken to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital where skin was removed from behind her ear to build her a "new nose".

Callum Campbell, 24, was found guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court of having a dog that was dangerously out of control. 

The court heard how the girl and her mother had been visiting Campbell’s home in Maryhill to see his mother ahead of an upcoming dance competition.

As the women chatted, Campbell entered the kitchen to get a drink and the dog appeared at the doorway to the living room and stared at them.

"The dog was like a statue and before I knew it he was on top of me and my wee girl," the witness said.

"The dog was quite strong and got hold of my wee girl. I was trying to save her. It was growling .

"My wee girl got pulled to the floor from the chair right along the living room floor.

"The dog took my wee girl’s nose off."

The woman said Campbell’s mother shouted: "Why did you let the dog out?".

He replied that he thought he had shut the door.

The girl was kept in hospital for four nights and missed the dance competition which was two days after the incident.

She has since received counselling to help with her fear of dogs and has been left with a scar on her nose.

The mother said Campbell had claimed that it was not his dog that had carried out the attack.

Michael Tierney, defending, put it to the witness that she misheard him, but she denied this.

Sheriff Mary Shields deferred sentence on Campbell until next month pending background reports and granted him bail.