A decision on whether a dog which bit a nine-year-old girl in a pub should be destroyed has been delayed because of an IT glitch.
Owner Matthew Reah was due to be sentenced for being in control of Hector when he bit the schoolgirl in the Long Man of Wilmington Pub in Patcham last May.
The hearing at Brighton Magistrates Court was also meant to decide whether a destruction order should be made.
But the hearing was adjourned after magistrates heard a dog expert’s report commissioned by the defence had not reached Sussex Police because its size meant it had been blocked by IT servers.
The report has been resent in a different format and is now with Sussex Police – but officers have not had a chance to respond to what is in it.
The court was told it found Hector, a 11-stone caucasian shepherd, is “gentle and shows no signs of aggression”.
The court was previously told the girl, who was at the pub with her mum and dad, jumped on the dog and pulled its ears before the attack happened.
Brighton and Hove News understands the girl’s family strongly deny this. Because Reah has admitted the charge in full, the full circumstances of the attack will not be established in court.
After the attack, a family member posted on Facebook to say she had to undergo facial surgery.
Reah, 55, of Braybon Avenue, instructed canine behaviorist Helen Howell to carry out the examination of Hector.
The court is required to make a destruction order unless it is satisfied Hector does not pose a risk to public safety.
Defending Reah, Mr Marsh asked the court to proceed today.
He said: “Police did not initially seek a destruction order. The defendant is currently unemployed and is paying privately for representation.”
But chair of the bench Simon Thorpe said the hearing should be adjourned in the interests of justice.
It will now be heard on 22 November. Sussex Police have until 18 October to respond to the expert’s report.
What is the latest with this case?
It was adjourned again, until the end of this month