A dangerous dog that mauled a woman three years ago has finally been destroyed.
In a saga involving a lengthy court case, an appeal to the high court, a claim of mistaken identity and a bungled attempt at legal action by police to have the dog put down, more than £30,000 of taxpayers’ money was spent in legal costs and kennel fees.
What seemed a clear-cut case of a dangerous dog that had attacked and mauled a woman and bitten off part of her ear on the orders of its owner ended up a farce played out in public in court.
The fate of the dog had hung in the balance since the attack in 2012 as its identity had been in doubt after owner Derek Duncan failed to disclose its whereabouts to police.
Duncan was jailed by Sheriff Elizabeth Munro in 2013 after being found guilty by a jury of ordering the dog to attack the woman after she threw out his carry-out meal.
He was later acquitted of being the owner of a dangerous dog on appeal to the High Court.
Police traced the dog in June 2013 but Duncan claimed it was not his dog Kaii but his sister’s dog, spelled Kai, from the same litter.
The Staffie was kept in private kennels for almost two years at taxpayers’ expense estimated to be around £30,000, with the council seeking expenses.
Sheriff Tom Hughes had deferred the action until this week for the owners to prove the identity of the dog.
When it called back in the civil court, neither Derek Duncan nor his sister Gemma, who claimed the dog was hers, appeared in court to defend the action.
Sheriff Hughes then granted the order for its destruction.