JUDGE'S WARNING TO OWNER AS INCIDENT WAS SECOND ATTACK

A PROFESSIONAL strongman was left bloodied and with a phobia of dogs after an ill-fated visit to a garage.

- By ADAM EVERETT

Mechanic Alan Gilmartin's Tibetan mastiff Kong sank its teeth into the unsuspecting customer's leg as he waited to collect his car, leaving him with “nasty injuries”

It came after the “powerful and muscular” canine, who had previously landed his owner with a police caution after biting another man in a field, broke free from the skip where he had been tied up outside the premises. But Gilmartin has been spared a prison sentence and allowed to keep his dog.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that John Crossland attended Vehicle Technician UK in Knowsley, of which Gilmartin was the proprietor, on November 11 2023 to pick up his vehicle after repairs. The 31-year-old defendant, of Shelley Close in Huyton, had left his “powerful, muscular and athletic” dog chained to a skip outside for 50 minutes before Kong began pulling on this restraint and barking.