Man who stabbed police dog is jailed under new law to protect service animals

A man who stabbed a police dog while high on drugs has become the first person jailed under Finn’s Law, named after another service animal who was attacked.

Daniel O’Sullivan, 29, was sentenced to 21 months after admitting the attack – which the judge described as “gratuitous” and “plainly premeditated”.

A member of the public called police after watching “agitated” O’Sullivan near a busy shopping centre in Stoke-on-Trent on 1 July.

The court heard he was clutching a four-inch knife behind his back and “bouncing up and down, punching the air” with it and “making practice lunges”.

Several officers arrived at the scene in Hanley town centre, including PC Karl Mander from the Staffordshire force and his service dog Audi.

O’Sullivan, from Bowland Drive in the Litherland area of Liverpool, was ordered to drop the knife, but he refused and threw a glass bottle at them.

Prosecuting barrister Howard Searle said: “As a result of his refusal to put the weapons down, Audi was released.

“It got close to him and engaged with the defendant, who stabbed the police dog with a knife, to the eye area.”

After again trying to stab the animal before being chased a short distance, O’Sullivan was Tasered and fell to the floor, kicking an officer in the head in the process.

O’Sullivan, who had previous convictions for attacking police, suffered a head injury during the fall and was taken to hospital, where he continued his “abusive and violent behaviour” towards police and doctors.

He spat in one constable’s face, leaving the officer feeling “disgusted and dirty”, and after an oxygen mask was put over his face to stop him from spitting, he was eventually made to wear a spit-hood.

He was also placed in leg restraints after continually kicking out.

Listing the dog’s injuries, Mr Searle said: “The police dog had one or two stab wounds to its face, one very near to his eyeball.

“The vet that treated the dog said it was lucky not to have lost an eye during the course of its service.”

When he was arrested, O’Sullivan had only been out on licence for six weeks after receiving a 15-month prison sentence for an assault.

Appearing at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court via video-link, he admitted eight offences, including five of assaulting a police officer – and two counts of having an offensive weapon; the glass bottle and the knife.

O’Sullivan was jailed for four months for each of the officer assaults, 18 months for having the knife, and eight months for having the bottle as a weapon, all to be served concurrently.

He was separately jailed for an additional three months for what the judge called the “deliberate attempt to cause suffering” to police dog Audi.

Sentencing O’Sullivan, Judge Glenn told him that he had “ignored repeated warnings” and after immediately picking up an empty bottle, he was “aggressively and actively seeking confrontation”.

He said: “Eventually when the dog was deployed, your immediate and plainly premeditated response was to stab the dog to the side of the head.

“Were it not for the orbit of its eye, the dog would have lost its eye and possibly its life.

“The officers were simply trying to do what they are trained to do, protect the public.”

He added that although no officers suffered serious injury, spitting was a “vile and despicable act” with the purpose to “degrade and humiliate the victim”.

He added: “You admitted being under influence of monkey dust and cocaine.

“You said you intended to kill the dog and made threats about what you were going to do to police officers when you were released.”

Finn’s law, aimed at giving greater protection to all service animals, came into force in June, following the high-profile case of police dog Finn, who nearly died from stabs to his chest and head after chasing a suspect.

But as the law then stood, the offence could only be classified as criminal damage.

(c) Sky News 2019: Man who stabbed police dog is jailed under new law to protect service animals