Man arrested over boy killed by dog
John Paul Massey was killed in a dog attack
Thursday, 03, Dec 2009 04:25
By Richard James.
A 21-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter in connection with the death of John-Paul Massey, the four-year-old boy killed in a dog attack in Liverpool.
John-Paul was fatally injured after being attacked by a dog in the early hours of Monday morning.
Merseyside police said the suspect from Wavertree, Liverpool, was arrested this morning and remains in police custody.
He is due to be interviewed by detectives later today.
Police confirmed earlier this week the dog involved in the attack was a breed of pitbull illegal under the Dangerous Dog Act.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has also launched an investigation after police admitted they had received a report of dog breeding at the address of the attack back in February.
Commenting on the investigation, Deputy Chief Constable Patricia Gallan of Merseyside police said: "On behalf of Merseyside police, I am deeply concerned and very disappointed that our policy was not followed in February when we received a call alerting us to the possible breeding of pit bull terriers at the house where the attack took place.
"This is clearly unacceptable and we are sorry that Merseyside police did not take the appropriate course of action at that time. As a matter of urgency we began an immediate internal investigation to establish exactly what led to that call not being brought to the attention of our specialist dog unit."
John-Paul's grandmother, Helen Foulkes, 63, was taken to hospital on Monday after suffering injuries while attempting to prevent the attack at her home in Wavertree.