Eleven children injured in Blyth park dog attack

• 2 hours ago
 
• From the sectionTyne & Wear

Media captionVictims speak of the moment the dog attacked

Eleven children have been injured in a dog attack in a fenced-off play park.

The Staffordshire bull terrier was restrained by a parent after biting the children in Blyth, Northumberland.

Three of the children, who all suffered bite wounds as they were trapped in the park, were kept in hospital overnight after the attack, which happened at about 18:30 BST on Wednesday.

Police later arrested a 37-year-old woman on suspicion of having a dog dangerously out of control.

Among the injured, a seven-year-old girl was expected to need skin grafts.

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The father of one of the injured children managed to tie the dog to a fence with a cardigan, before police arrived to transport it to kennels.

Image copyrightJOHN TUTTIETT

Image captionThe animal was removed by police

Adam Mulvey, who lives next to the park, said: "I got a knock on the door from a little girl telling us that there were several children trapped in the park with the dog, and one of them was my little girl.

"I could see her from the house and everyone else screaming, howling, it was just horrific."

Mr Mulvey said he ran outside, saw the dog and sat on it, before tying it to the fence.

"I'm a dog lover and it killed me to sit on it and hold its face to the ground. But it was a powerful dog - not a nice thing to happen," he said.

Image copyrightJEFFREY NESBITT

Image captionJeffrey Nesbitt took pictures of the injuries suffered by his daughter

"My daughter's seven and she's got to have an operation now. They're looking at the possibility of having to have skin grafts.

"She's frightened of dogs now for the rest of her life and frightened of parks."

Fiona Richards, who lives opposite the park, said: "The dog was running around super fast biting every kid in there, I saw it grab a little one by the shoulder. It was bedlam."

Ms Richards' 11-year-old daughter was bitten on the thigh.

Image captionNicole Nesbitt (Left) and Stevie-Brooke Maddison were both attacked by the dog

Another resident, Neil Wilkinson, said: "There were about 30 kids in there and the dog just arrived from nowhere.

"I got in and started lifting them up and out of the park. As I was doing it the dog leapt up and bit my son on the arm."

Stevie Brooke-Maddison was in the park when the dog arrived.

The 12-year-old said: "At first we were laughing, because it was just jumping up and being silly.

"And then one minute it just snapped and was being vicious and went for everyone.

"I climbed up a climbing frame but it jumped up and latched onto my leg, I was kicking but it wouldn't let go.

"I was crying and screaming and everything."

A spokeswoman for Northumbria Police said officers remained in the area to reassure people.