Dad claims daughter's head left with hole after alleged dog attack in Royston

A dad claimed that his daughter’s head was left with a hole in it after she was allegedly attacked by a bully dog.

The 30-year-old told a court that his four year old was pounced on by a pocket American bully named Poppy on July 16 2022.

The stonemason stated that the girl’s head was gushing with blood which had also stained her clothing.

Thomas McStay is on trial at Glasgow Sheriff Court accused of being the owner of a dog which was dangerously out of control.

The court heard from the dad who stated that he, his partner and the girl attended a barbecue at McStay’s home in Glasgow’s Royston.

The man said that the dog jumped on the girl when she entered the garden.

The man claimed that he thought the dog - he described as “well built and quite muscly” - was initially playing with his daughter.

He stated that the dog was then kept in the house.

The witness said that his daughter was later put into a neighbour’s garden while Poppy was allowed back out to do the toilet.

He stated that the dog barked at her from through the fence before being put back into the house.

The man claimed that the dog was let out by someone and Poppy headed to the garden.

He said: “It clocked my daughter again and pounced on her.

“She was on her back and her head was to the side.

“The dog grabbed her by the hair and it had a full clump of her hair in the dog’s mouth.

“The dog was shaking about quite aggressively and everyone was screaming to get Poppy off of her.”

He stated that a woman at the scene put her finger in Poppy’s mouth as he tried to get the dog off the girl.

The man added: “I lifted the dog up and threw it down the bottom of the garden to get my daughter.

“I managed to lift her up and the dog came back and was aggressive - barking.

“As I lifted her I noticed the amount of blood gushing from the back of her head."

The man stated that he noticed that a bit of the girl’s hair was missing when he put a towel on her head.

He added: "She had a swimming costume on and everything was just red with blood."

The man stated that the incident lasted between one minute and 90 seconds.

He stated that the girl was taken to hospital for treatment when he saw the girl's wound.

Prosecutor Hazel Kerr asked what he saw and the witness responded: "To me, it looked like a hole and indentation on her head."

The man claimed that his daughter spent a few days in hospital and was given a bandage for her head.

Miss Kerr asked the witness what McStay was doing.

The man replied: "I was trying to get the dog off and he was just standing there so he was."

The fiscal depute later asked if McStay gave any instructions to the dog at any point and he said: "No."

Kevin Banks, defending, put it to the witness that Poppy jumped on the girl but she fell and banged her head which caused the cut to her head.

The man replied: "It was grass so I don't understand - it was soft impact - banging your head on grass will not cause an injury like that."

He later refuted Mr Bank's suggestion that he was told that a doctor told him that the injury was consistent with having come from a blunt object.

The trial continues before Sheriff Andrew Cubie.

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