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| Dexter Neal dog death: Pet owner given suspended jail term | Dexter Neal dog death: Pet owner given suspended jail term |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A woman whose dog mauled a three-year-old boy to death has been handed a suspended jail sentence. | A woman whose dog mauled a three-year-old boy to death has been handed a suspended jail sentence. |
| Dexter Neal died after he was attacked by an American bulldog while playing in Halstead, Essex, in August. | |
| Jade Dunne, now of Kelvedon, pleaded guilty in April to owning a dangerously out-of-control dog resulting in death. | |
| She was sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court to a year in prison, suspended for two years, and banned from owning dogs for 10 years. | |
| Dunne was also ordered to carry out 100 hours of community service. | Dunne was also ordered to carry out 100 hours of community service. |
| Dexter was bitten by the animal while playing with Dunne's children at her former home in Parker Way on 18 August. | Dexter was bitten by the animal while playing with Dunne's children at her former home in Parker Way on 18 August. |
| The dog, called Ruby, pushed Dexter to the floor as he walked into a lean-to with his sister where the dog was kept, the court heard. | |
| Dexter's mother tried to resuscitate him, but he died from cardiac arrest after being airlifted to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge. | |
| Judge Karim Khalil said: "Nothing I can do or say can in any way diminish the pain of the Neal family at the loss of little Dexter." | |
| Kate Davey, prosecuting, said Dexter bled "copiously" and could not get up after being knocked over by the rescue home dog, which may have shown "prey behaviour". | |
| "Dexter did absolutely nothing to provoke the dog," she said. | |
| Dexter's house backed on to Dunne's and he would often be lifted over the fence to play there, but had walked around on the day he was attacked. | |
| Steven Levy, mitigating for Dunne, said: "She's very sorry that having a family dog has brought about the sad loss of Dexter." | |
| He said the mother-of-three - of previous good character and remorseful - apologised, through him, to Dexter's family. | |
| The dog was seized by police and later destroyed. |