Image: Garfield King, whose 15-year-old son Shovell said he 'couldn't give a toss' that his dog had savaged little Kieron
Little Keiron Guess needed seven hours of surgery this week to rebuild his face after being savaged by a neighbour's Staffordshire bull terrier. And the response of the dog's 15-year-old owner is every bit as horrifying...With his ‘hoodie’ and the peak of his baseball cap perpetually pulled down over his face, Shovell King cut an intimidating figure.
His appearance, though, was not the only reason which made people want to cross the road when they saw the 15-year-old coming towards them.
Another was invariably by his side: up to 3st of muscle, teeth and claws masquerading as a family pet — a vicious Staffordshire bull terrier called Ratty.
The two — dog and owner — enjoyed a fearsome reputation in Swindon. Ratty’s temperament, it seems, was more American pit bull, a breed banned in Britain, than traditional ‘Staffie’. According to neighbours, it appeared that Shovell King used the snarling, growling animal to scare and intimidate.
Last year, during a drugs raid at the house that Shovell — or ‘Shovi’ as he is known — shares with his father, Garfield King, his ‘pet’ attacked not one but two police officers.
Nothing illegal was found at the end-of-terrace in Swanage Walk, but one officer was bitten on the hand, the other on the leg. Even a blast from a Taser stun gun failed to subdue the crazed animal. In other words, Ratty was a tragedy just waiting to happen.
That tragedy finally occurred at 6pm on Sunday, which is why you are reading about ‘Shovi’ King today. The victim, on this occasion, was two-year-old Keiron Guess. Keiron lives with his mum Stacey, 22, father Anthony, 23, and his brother Mckenzie, aged four, in a home backing on to the Kings’ property.
On Sunday, Keiron was being looked after by his grandfather. He was playing outside but wandered into the garden where Ratty the Staffordshire bull terrier was kept. Moments later, the sound of screams filled Swanage Walk
We shall not dwell on the horrific seconds that followed. Suffice to say, Keiron underwent seven hours of emergency reconstructive surgery on his face after being airlifted to hospital in Bristol.
He is lucky only in the sense that he survived. In the past five years alone, six children in Britain have died in similar circumstances. Six young lives lost, and countless people injured in streets, public parks and gardens across the country, by dogs — wild animals in all but name — under the command of owners like ‘Shovi’ King.
Neither King nor anyone else will face criminal charges because the attack on Keiron took place on private property.
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