A dangerous criminal who twice stabbed a police dog in the head has been jailed under the provisions of the new Animal Welfare (Service Animals) Act 2019 (otherwise known as "Finn's law").
Daniel O'Sullivan, 29, of Bowland Drive, Liverpool admitted five charges of assault on an emergency worker, two charges of possession of an offensive weapon and a single charge of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal, namely Police Dog Audi, when he appeared at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court earlier today.
All of the charges relate to an incident on Monday, 1st July 2019.
On that day a concerned member of the public called the police when they saw an agitated O'Sullivan brandishing a knife near the Intu Potteries Shopping Centre in Hanley.
When the police arrived O'Sullivan threatened them with a broken glass bottle.
Officers ordered O'Sullivan to put down the broken bottle and knife, but he refused to do so. It was at that stage that PD Audi was released and O'Sullivan stabbed him twice to the head, narrowly missing his eye.
O'Sullivan was tasered after he made further attempts to stab PD Audi. He kicked at the face of an officer when he was eventually restrained on the ground.
O'Sullivan was taken by ambulance to the Royal Stoke University Hospital for assessment and while there, he became aggressive and unpredictable towards hospital staff. He also spat at four officers and kicked one of them to the head.
Passing sentence, HHJ Paul Glenn said: "When police arrived you picked up an empty bottle and held it by its neck. You were swearing at police and commented you would stab the dog handler.
"When the dog was deployed your immediate response was to stab the dog to the side of the head. You subsequently tried to stab him again.
"Your threw a bottle at a police officer as he moved towards you.
"A taser was deployed and you were detained.
"Even then, you continued to be aggressive, kicking an officer to the head.
"You spat into the faces of numerous police officers. You kneed an officer and kicked another to his head.
"The dog received a 3 centimeter cut to the side of his head. The police and the dog were simply trying to do what they were trained to do.
"Spitting is a vile and despicable act.
"You admitted you were under the influence of monkey dust and cocaine."
HHJ Glenn sentenced O'Sullivan to 21 months' imprisonment, 3 months of which was for the attack on PD Audi.
Commenting after the case, Detective Inspector Stephen Ward of Staffordshire Police said: "O'Sullivan presented a significant danger to anyone who was nearby and we cannot allow the public to be put at risk.
"He assaulted five officers, spitting at four of them, which is a degrading experience for the officers concerned and can present a health risk.
"O'Sullivan was out to seriously hurt PD Audi and it was lucky that he wasn't blinded or killed as a result of his injuries. Aside from the sheer cruelty of his actions, it takes a great deal of time, energy and expense to train a police dog and an experience like that could have ended his career. Fortunately, Audi has recovered well and is back at work."
Matthew Ellis, Police and Crime Commissioner for Staffordshire, has welcomed today's sentencing. He said: "Police dogs are not only incredible and beautiful animals but are also there to protect and serve the public.
"It is absolutely right that there is a strong deterrent to harming not just police officers, but police dogs as well. I’m delighted that PD Audi has recovered well and is back at work."
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