Friend of XL bully victim Ian Langley stroked killer dog weeks before it mauled pal to death
by Sophie Doughty · ChronicleLiveA close friend of XL bully attack victim Ian Langley stroked the dog that killed him just weeks before the tragedy.
Ian Langley died in hospital after being attacked by Christopher Bell's dog, Titan, outside a house on Maple Terrace, in Shiney Row, near Sunderland, on October 3 last year. Bell this week pleaded guilty to being the owner of a dog dangerously out of control which caused injury resulting in death.
Now one of 54-year-old Ian's closest friends has revealed how he petted the powerful XL bully outside a shop not long before the brutal attack. And today dog lover Michael Ward has told the Chronicle of his shock and devastation at learning that the calm canine he stroked went on to maul his gentle pal to death.
The 43-year-old said: "I just didn't understand it. It was perfectly fine. I don't know how they have turned so vicious. It was a big shock.
"Ian would help anyone. Even if he didn't know you he would help you. He was a very kind man. He's the last person that deserved this. We are still gutted. He will be a big miss."
Michael first met Ian, who was originally from Liverpool and known to his friends as 'Scouse', around 20 years ago. Ian became close friends with Michael and his partner, Rachael Barron. He would visit the couple most days and often spent Christmas Day with them.
"We were together every day, he was like family," said Michael. "As soon as he woke up he would come to mind to get a cuppa and at Christmas Day he was here to get his Christmas dinner. I have known him the best part of 20 years."
Michael did not know Christopher Bell, who also lived in Shiney Row, but he knew of him having seen him around with his two distinctive large dogs, including the ginger coloured XL bully, Titan who killed Ian. And it was the the dogs' size that caught his eye on the day he walked over to pet them as they stood outside Heron Foods waiting for their owner.
"No one knew him round here. But I did see him when I went shopping at Heron, He had his dogs with him then." Michael explained. I said to my mate 'they're massive'. They never even acted aggressively. I went over and stroked them, including the big one that killed Ian. It was perfectly fine. Me and my mate went up and it never even flinched. That was only a few weeks before Ian died."
Michael was at hospital himself when Ian was attacked by the dog, at shortly before 7pm.
The dad-of-one had been walking his pet terrier Bow when the XL bully struck leaving him fatally injured. The dog was shot dead after police were called to the scene and an investigation was launched.
Michael found out what happened when a friend called him to say someone had been attacked by a dog in the village, but at first he received conflicting information about what had happened. Desperate for answers he asked hospital staff if they had any dog attack victims coming in.
"I was at hospital and I got a phonecall off my pal. At first he said it was a 15-year-old lad," Michael explained. "Then I got a call off another mate who said it was Ian. I asked the hospital straight away and they said he was going to Newcastle."
And the true horror of what had happened to his friend became clear when Michael returned to Shiney Row to see the streets full of police.
"When I got the phonecall I didn't want top believe it at first," he said. "Then when I came home and seen everyone I just broke down. I still do to this day, it still gets to me."
And Michael quickly discovered that the XL bully he had stroked was the one that killed his friend.
"I found out straight away," he said. "He's the only person in the area that had that type of dog and that colour."
Bell, 45, pleaded guilty to the offence at Newcastle Crown Court last week. He will be sentenced in January. Judge Robert Adams told him: "You have pleaded guilty and will get credit for that at the time of sentence. I'm ordering a pre-sentence report but in doing so I'm giving no indication about sentence - all options will be open to the court on that occasion."
Bell was released on bail with two conditions, which are to cooperate with the preparation of a pre-sentence report and to have his home at Coltman Street, Hull, as a correspondence address.
Michael added: ""He's pleaded guilty now, but we are waiting to see what sort of sentence he gets. We all just want justice."
Since Ian's death, XL bully dogs have become a banned breed. On December 31 last year it became illegal to rehome, breed or sell an XL bully dog. And on February 1 this year it became illegal to own an XL bully without an exemption certificate. For owners to keep their dog they must obtain public liability insurance, and have it microchipped, muzzled in public and neutered.
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