Judge congratulates police dog after nipping defendant

From: CPD Webinars 28/02/11 -

Judge Julian Lambert exclaimed, "Good! I hope it hurt. Well done Zak!", when told that the 8 year old German Shepherd had sunk his teeth into a thief’s buttock. The judge spoke out, last month, against the current 'soft' sentencing guidelines which prevented him jailing a burglar in Bristol.

However sitting at Gloucester Crown court the judge had no hesitation in locking up persistent thief John Davies for nine months. Davies, 35, of Evesham, admitted trying to steal a £3,000 bronze statue from a park in Cheltenham in August last year. He was spotted by a couple walking, who raised the alarm. Davies fled when he saw police arriving but Zak was unleashed and sent after him. Prosecutor George Threlfall said "The dog followed the scent to a nearby courtyard where the defendant was hiding. Zak detained him by biting his left buttock."

Ouch! That’s one way of doing it I suppose. But why not the right buttock, I wonder? Maybe the defendant had a doggy treat in his left back pocket?

After the hearing Zak's handler Pc Rich Hunt said it had been the dog's last bite in the course of duty as he has since retired.

I’m sure the defendant will be making a point of keeping the hell away from any Alsatians in the future, particularly without his Kevlar boxer shorts on!

Let’s hope for his sake, he wasn’t sentenced to community service – he’d make a conspicuous target for a nippy canine, particularly if someone slipped a sausage roll into his jacket pocket!