A mother who got drunk and let her ex-boyfriend’s two XL Bullies off their leads in a park where they mauled three dog walkers and their pets has been spared jail.
Amanda Wilkie, 44, had taken her former boyfriend’s pets, Mavis and Missy, out for a walk in a park in Merseyside after she had been drinking at a funeral.
The powerfully built XL Bullies darted over to one woman and her dog, biting them both and dragging her along the grass.
They also attacked two small dogs belonging to Christina Potts and Tracey Hayhurst who were chatting on a park bench.
Party loving mother Amanda Wilkie, 44, got drunk and allowed two XL Bullies to maul three dog walkers and their pets during a terrifying parkland rampage
She had been looking after the hounds for her ex-boyfriend and sparked terror when she let them off their leashes at Willow Park in Newton-Le-Willows, Merseyside
Despite leaving two women injured, Wilkie left without the XL Bullies and went home to carry on drinking alcohol.
Liverpool Crown Court heard on Thursday that Wilkie had taken the dogs out for a walk on Willow Park in Newton-le-Willows shortly after 6pm on August 17 last year.
Simran Garcha prosecuting said the Bullies attacked one woman and her dogs before approaching Christine Potts and Tracey Hayhurst, who were sitting on a bench.
Mavis bit Ms Potts on the face, injuring her lip and finger, as she tried to protect her 17-year-old West Highland terrier, Rosie. Ms Potts also required hospital treatment after the incident.
She and Ms Hayhurst picked up their dogs, including a two-year-old Papillon called Mylo, and put them on top of a bin to protect them as the XL Bullies continued their attempts to attack.
Wilkie, of Southworth Road in Newton, attempted to move Mavis and Missy away.
She said that ‘they were not her dogs and did not belong to her’ but the 44-year-old was described as ‘appearing to be drunk’ and ‘slurring her words’ at this stage.
Christine Potts (right) with her friend Tracey Heyhurst tried to save their dogs, a 16-year-old West Highland Terrier called Rosie and a two-year-old Papillon called Mylo
A bloodied Miss Potts with her pet Mylo in the aftermath of the attack. She underwent treatment in hospital for puncture wounds to her lip
Ms Potts and Ms Hayhurst managed to get out of the area and sought refuge in a nearby van.
But the XL Bullies turned their attentions to Jacqueline Mahoney, who ‘heard a woman screaming for help’ upon entering the park with her own dog.
Wilkie warned her not to walk up a set of steps in the park due to dogs being aggressive.
Mavis and Missy then attacked Ms Mahoney’s dog, a three-year-old Yorkshire terrier-Chi Hua Hua cross called Scooby.
One of the XL Bullies grabbed Scooby’s neck and flipped it onto its back as Miss Mahoney was injured trying to rescue her pet.
She grabbed the XL Bully’s leg but she was dragged along and fell downstairs.
Mylo pictured with 16-year-old West Highland Terrier called Rosie recovering after the vicious attack. Rosie had punctures around her neck
Mylo suffered bites around her head and ear after the XL Bully locked its jaws around the dog
She was left with bruising to her knuckles and pain in her back and arm while Scooby was left with wounds to its neck, back and chest. Scooby also ran away as a result of the attack.
Police officers later arrived at the park to find that Wilkie had left, leaving both of her dogs behind.
When interviewed on January 2, Wilkie told detectives that the dogs ‘became free’ after which she ‘went back home to retrieve strong collars and leads’.
But she then ‘had a number of alcoholic drinks and did not return to retrieve the dogs’.
Wilkie ‘accepted possession of the dogs’, although she stated that they ‘belonged to her ex-partner’ Mark Coxhill.
Ms Hayhurst was left with bruising to her arms and legs and a chipped tooth as a result of the incident, while her dog ‘received bite marks’.
Ms Mahoney suffered ‘many bruises and scratches’, with her dog sustaining ‘injuries to the chest and back, including puncture wounds’.
In a statement read to the court on her behalf, Ms Potts said: ‘I don’t take my dogs out now like I used to, and only on the odd occasion. Even then, I find it so hard.
‘What used to be a pleasure, being outside and enjoying nature, isn’t any more. I don’t think my mental wellbeing will ever be the same.
‘I have flashbacks and nightmares and often cry out in my sleep. I used to love Willow Park, but I’ve not been able to go back there since.
‘I’ve been a huge dog lover since I was a child, but now I’m terrified of big dogs. I can’t stop thinking the worst that could have happened.
‘I used to be a positive person. This incident has taken away my love of the outside and being out in nature with my dog and my sense of feeling safe and secure.
‘No one should ever have to go through what I did and feel like I do nine months after it happened. This trauma will have an effect on me for the rest of my life.’
One of the XL Bullies grabbed Scooby’s neck (pictured) and flipped it onto its back as Miss Mahoney was injured trying to rescue her pet
Jacqueline Mahoney (pictured) was attacked while entering the park with her three-year-old Yorkshire terrier-Chi Hua Hua cross called Scooby
Wilkie has one previous conviction for inflicting grievous bodily harm against Mr Coxhill in relation to an incident on April 14 2023.
She stabbed her then boyfriend with a steak knife over claims he was about to cheat on her.
This saw her handed a 15-month imprisonment suspended for two years in October last year.
She owns three other dogs, a French bulldog called Dolly, Billy the Shih Tzu and a French bulldog Shih Tzu cross named Fifi.
Louise Santamera, defending, told the court: ‘She says she tried to speak to the police at the time and asked them to make arrangements to remove Missy and Mavis, because they were not her dogs and she was not allowed to contact him.
‘On the date of the offence, she had been to a family funeral and returned home in a hurry to take the dogs out for a walk because they had not been walked at all that day.
‘She accepts that she had a couple of drinks at the funeral but does not accept that she was staggeringly drunk.
‘She picked up some older leads rather than the newer leads, which were much stronger. She took them a short distance to the park to give them a walk.
‘As she entered the park, another dog started barking at them and this caused Missy to slip the lead. In fact, the lead snapped.
‘The other dog ran off after her. She does accept that she should have been more responsible and she should have put them on the stronger leads.
‘She said she left the park after trying to retrieve both of the dogs, trying her best to get them back under control. Realising that she couldn’t, she went home because she was afraid.
‘She was afraid she would be blamed for what she had seen happen and that she would be arrested again when she was on bail for the other offence. She was ashamed of what she had done in not staying in the park and not doing more in trying to retrieve the two dogs.
‘It is true that, at the time, she did have an alcohol problem, but on that particular day she was not staggering around. At the time, she had been in a toxic and abusive relationship with Mr Coxhill.
Wilkie pleaded guilty to four charges of having a dog dangerously out of control and faces up to two years jail under sentencing guidelines
‘It seems that events in 2023 have brought her to her senses and made her realise that she needed to address her alcohol problem. She has done extraordinarily well, by all accounts.
‘She has now been sober for eight months. The previous abusive relationship was the underlying cause of her alcohol problem.
‘It would be, in my submission, a great pity if she was now to be sentenced to immediate custody. All of the hard work and effort she has made would be undone.
‘She understands that the offences have caused immense physical and mental distress, and she is sorry for any pain she has caused. This incident in the park that day is a one-off incident in her ability to look after and care for dogs.’
Wilkie admitted two counts of being in charge of a dangerously out-of-control dog causing injury and two charges of being in charge of a dangerously out-of-control dog.
Sitting with her arms folded in the dock and wearing a black, pink and grey striped cardigan with her black hair tied back with a clip, she was handed a 10-month imprisonment suspended for two years with 200 hours of unpaid work and a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 10 days.
Wilkie was also told to pay £500 in compensation to Ms Potts and £300 to Ms Mahoney.
Rulings on whether she will be banned from keeping animals and a destruction order concerning the two XL bullies will be given on August 27 in order to allow Mr Coxhill to make representations to the judge.
Sentencing, Judge Brian Cummings KC said: ‘I am dealing with not one but two dangerous dogs, two sizeable dogs, and two human victims – not including the dogs who were injured. Your conduct on this occasion represented a catalogue of irresponsibility.
‘You are not a big person. You are a slight woman, so far as I can see.
‘You went out with two large dogs. You had no proper collars or leads.
‘You were under the influence of alcohol and, very seriously, you abandoned the dogs at the scene. You left others to deal with the situation, notwithstanding the fact that there were children in the park.
‘You were on crown court bail at the time of this incident in respect of a dissimilar type of offence. You are not in breach of that suspended sentence order because it was imposed more than three months after the present offence.
‘I keep in mind that this very serious incident was getting on now for a year ago. During that time, you importantly have not committed any further offences.
‘It is only fair to acknowledge that your progress in respect of the community elements of the suspended sentence order has been described as excellent. If you were in breach of the suspended sentence order, of course you would be going to prison.
‘There would be no doubt about it, but that is not the position. In my judgement, the balance in this case just comes through in your favour.’
