Crufts-winner, 69, is facing jail after dog mauled visitor's leg

Crufts-winning dog breeder, 69, is facing jail after being found guilty of failing to control her pet Belgian Malinois which mauled visitor to her

• Margaret Peacock, 69, was convicted of having a dangerously out of control dog
• The Cruft winner’s Belgian Malinois ‘Mako’ attacked 33-year-old Natasha Turner
• It happened while Ms Turner visited Peacock’s home in Farnborough, Hampshire
• The dog mauled the victim’s leg, as Peacock pleaded for her not to inform police

A Crufts-winning dog breeder faces a possible prison sentence after being found guilty of failing to control her pet Belgian Malinois which mauled a visitor causing her ‘significant’ blood loss.

Margaret Peacock, 69, was convicted by a jury of the offence of being in charge of the dog called Mako which was dangerously out of control causing injury to 33-year-old Natasha Turner.

Sian Beaven, prosecuting, told the trial at Salisbury Crown Court that Ms Turner had visited the home of the defendant in Farnborough, Hampshire, to do some DIY and to visit her own dog, Bobo, that was staying there, when the attack happened.

Giving evidence, Ms Turner said she had visited Peacock on February 1, 2021, to move the defendant’s bed to another room so it would be nearer to a wood burner because of the cold.

Crufts-winning dog breeder Margaret Peacock, 69, of Farnborough, Hampshire, was convicted by a jury of being in charge of the out-of-control dog called Mako, which mauled a visitor’s leg

33-year-old Natasha Peacock had gone to visit Peacock on February 1 last year and was helping move furniture when the dog sunk its fangs into her leg

Ms Turner’s leg was left bloodied after the dog attack, which she described being as painful as a ‘knife’ tearing through it

Describing the incident, she said: ‘It happened really quick, when we realised it was going wrong I was scared because I didn’t think I was going to get the dog off between us.

‘It was like someone had got a knife, put it in your leg and was tearing it through with a knife, that’s the only way I can describe it.

‘I was screaming. I was crying my eyes out. It was really, really bad.’

Ms Turner said that Peacock helped her to get the dog off but was bitten herself in the process before the defendant managed to put the dog back behind the gate where it was normally kept.

She said that Peacock asked her afterwards not to contact the police because she was worried the dog would be put down and also bought her gifts in an attempt to stop her from reporting the incident.

A bloody trainer belonging to victim of the dog attack, Natasha Turner.

Injury shots to victim of the dog attack, Natasha Turner, show the extent of the injuries sustained during the attack

Jurors were shown graphic photographs of Miss Turner’s bloodied and injured leg and were told the injury was so bad it required plastic surgery.

The court was told Peacock gave Miss Turner money for petrol, online games, a ‘£300 phone bill’, and a Bluetooth stereo following the attack.

The defendant denied that Mako carried out the attack and told the court that Ms Turner arrived injured at her front door having been attacked by another unknown dog elsewhere.

Judge Richard Parkes KC adjourned the case for sentencing on February 3, 2023.

He released Peacock on bail until then and ordered a pre-sentence report to be produced on her by the probation service.

He told her: ‘I shall release you on bail, please do not assume from the fact that I release you on bail that there isn’t a very real risk of a sentence of custody.’

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