Crook let dog savage mum-of-two on busy street

Joan Miller was knocked over by the animal as it sank its teeth into her, cracking her head hard on the pavement.

But as she lay dazed and bleeding on Fishergate from a terrible arm injury, the man in charge of the dog, Anthony Dickinson – a well-known criminal – heartlessly walked on by.

One witness told police she heard the ‘crack’ from across the road as helpless Joan hit the ground.

Today the mum-of-two, who has had to have plastic surgery to repair her skin where the dog pulled and peeled it away, called for dogs to be muzzled in public.

Close to tears, the shop worker, from Whitestake, said: “I feel absolutely disgusted at them – I couldn’t believe the total disregard for a hurt person they were responsible for hurting.

“How can they do that? I’m astounded.”

“I had just finished work at M&S. As I walked out of the door I turned left to go to the bus stop and there was a lady, man and dog walking towards me – the dog was at his arm’s length.

“It saw me and I had nowhere to move. It started barking at me. I thought he’d pull it away. But the dog leapt at me, pushed me and bit my arm,

Joan, whose head was badly swollen from the knock, added: “Police said when they watched the CCTV of it, they don’t know how I managed to stay conscious,

“I was lucky because I had my mac on, otherwise it may have been worse.

“I knew it had bitten me but didn’t know I was bleeding. Then someone saw the blood seeping through my mac.

“They never stopped, they just carried on walking.”

Joan was taken to the Royal Preston Hospital after a woman in the store’s CCTV room saw what happened and raised the alarm.

Kind-hearted colleagues from M&S stopped to help her, as did an off duty nurse.

She was kept in for three days.

It was thought she may need a skin graft but plastic surgeons have managed to repair the tear.

Today the mum, who has not been able to return to work, said: “It’s left me very, very jumpy. If I see a dog on walks out, or if I hear a dog barking it makes me jump.

“I’ve had terrible flashbacks.

“ I don’t dislike animals but I do think that dog should be destroyed. If that had been a child it would have been a face it bit.

“I think if a dog is being walked along a main street it should be muzzled. “

Dickinson, 49, of Lancaster Road, Preston, has admitted being in charge of a black cross-breed dog on September 8 which was dangerously out of control.

Police had seen him on CCTV drinking on the Flag Market moments before the incident.

He has a history of domestic violence and theft, hitting the headlines last year when he was jailed for 120 days for sneaking into Blitz nightclub on Great Shaw Street, Preston, and stealing vintage instruments worth £1,400 belonging to band Mobius Loop days before they were due to play their first music festival.

He will be sentenced tomorrow.